COVID-19 Resource Exchange

To be aware of the wishes and preferences of the individual

Australian Content

• Advance Care Planning Australia (ACPA) COVID-19 healthcare planning provides checklists to support Aged Care Providers, Health Service Providers, GPs as well as individuals and families in approaching Advance Care Planning for all.
• Advance Care Planning Australia provide a page full of information and advice relating to COVID-19 healthcare planning for individuals, families and loved ones. 
• Advance Care Planning Australia Webinar: COVID-19 and Advance Care Planning Webinar for General Practitioners.

International Content

• Aging with dignity. Five wishes.
• Centre to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) COVID-19 Response Resources.
• Difficult Conversations (NHS Education for Scotland) is an 8-minute visual guidance for healthcare staff in talking to patients about dying during COVID-19 pandemic.
• Respecting Choices COVID-19 tools and resources.
• The National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Shared Decision-Making Tool (428kb pdf).

This collection includes articles for health professionals and outline several topics relating to practical responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual articles focussing on specific aspects of care are listed under individual topics.

2020

• Abbott J, Johnson D, Wynia M. Ensuring Adequate Palliative and Hospice Care During COVID-19 Surges. JAMA. 2020 Sep 21. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.16843. Epub ahead of print.
• Arya A, Buchman S, Gagnon B, Downar J. Pandemic palliative care: beyond ventilators and saving lives. CMAJ. 2020 Mar 31:cmaj.200465. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.200465. Epub ahead of print.
• Baboudjian M, Ploussard G, Shariat SF, Ost P, Briganti A, Roupret M, et al. How to deal with steroids use in the management of metastatic prostate cancer during pandemic. Transl Androl Urol. 2020 Aug;9(4):1546-1549. doi: 10.21037/tau-20-1011.
• Cairns W, Agar M. Integrating palliative care into COVID-19 planning. MJA InSightPlus [Internet]. 2020 Mar 23 [cited 2020 Apr 27].
• Carr D, Boerner K, Moorman S. Bereavement in the Time of Coronavirus: Unprecedented Challenges Demand Novel Interventions. J Aging Soc Policy. 2020 Jul-Oct,32 (4-5) doi:10.1080/08959420.2020.1764320. Epub 2020 May 18. 
• Chidiac C, Feuer D, Naismith J, Flatley M, Preston N. Emergency Palliative Care Planning and Support in a COVID-19 Pandemic. J Palliat Med. 2020 Apr 20. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2020.0195. Epub ahead of print.
• Coghlan R. COVID-19: projecting compassion through the barrier of PPE. MJA InSightPlus [Internet]. 2020 Apr 6. [cited 2020 Apr 24].
• Costantini M, Sleeman KE, Peruselli C, Higginson IJ. Response and role of palliative care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A national telephone survey of hospices in Italy. medRxiv. 2020 Mar 18. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.18.20038448
• Etkind SN, Bone AE, Lovell N, Cripps RL, Harding R, Higginson IJ, Sleeman KE. The role and response of palliative care and hospice services in epidemics and pandemics: a rapid review to inform practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Apr 8. pii: S0885-3924(20)30182-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.03.029. Epub ahead of print.
• Greenhalgh T, Knight M, A'Court C, Buxton M, Husain L. Management of post-acute covid-19 in primary care. BMJ. 2020 Aug 11;370:m3026. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m3026.
• Harrop E, Mann M, Semedo L, Chao D, Selman LE, Byrne A. What elements of a systems' approach to bereavement are most effective in times of mass bereavement? A narrative systematic review with lessons for COVID-19. Palliat Med. 2020 Oct;34(9):1165-1181. doi: 10.1177/0269216320946273. Epub 2020 Jul 31.
• Hendin A, La Rivière CG, Williscroft DM, O'Connor E, Hughes J, Fischer LM. End-of-life care in the emergency department for the patient imminently dying of a highly transmissible acute respiratory infection (such as COVID-19). CJEM. 2020 Mar 26:1-4. doi: 10.1017/cem.2020.352. Epub ahead of print.
• Janssen DJA, Ekström M, Currow DC, Johnson MJ, Maddocks M, Simonds AK, et al. COVID-19: guidance on palliative care from a European Respiratory Society international task force. Eur Respir J. 2020 Sep 3;56(3):2002583. doi: 10.1183/13993003.02583-2020.
• Kent EE, Ornstein KA, Dionne-Odom JN. The Family Caregiving Crisis Meets an Actual Pandemic. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Apr 10:S0885-3924(20)30203-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.006. Epub ahead of print.
• Lapid MI, Koopmans R, Sampson EL, Van den Block L, Peisah C. Providing quality end of life care to older people in the era of COVID-19: Perspectives from five countries [published online ahead of print, 2020 May 11]. Int Psychogeriatr. 2020;1‐18. doi:10.1017/S1041610220000836. 
• Lovell N, Maddocks M, Etkind SN, Taylor K, Carey I, Vora V, et al. Characteristics, symptom management and outcomes of 101 patients with COVID-19 referred for hospital palliative care. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Apr 20;S0885-3924(20)30211-6. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.015
• Shah MA, Mayer S, Emlen F, et al. Clinical Screening for COVID-19 in Asymptomatic Patients With Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(9):e2023121. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.23121 
• The challenges of providing end-of-life support in care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and opportunities for the future: An international perspective (297kb pdf) from the LTC Response Centre to Covid-19
• The End of Life Studies group at the University of Glasgow summarise the literature looking at the role of palliative care in a blog: palliative care and COVID-19.
• Wang SSY, Teo WZY, Yee CW, Chai YW. Pursuing a Good Death in the Time of COVID-19. J Palliat Med. 2020 Apr 20. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2020.0198. Epub ahead of print.
• COVID 19 and non communicable disease evidence statement (223kb pdf) - an infographic from WHO & UNDCP.

2019

• Krakauer E, Daubman B, Aloudat T, Bhadelia N, Black L, Janjanin S, et al. Palliative Care Needs of People Affected by Natural Hazards, Political or Ethnic Conflict, Epidemics of Life-Threatening Infections, and Other Humanitarian Crises. In: Waldman E, Glass M, editors. A Field Manual for Palliative Care in Humanitarian Crises. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2019:4-13.

2018

• Nouvet E, Sivaram M, Bezanson K. Krishnaraj G, Hunt M, de Laat S, et al. Palliative care in humanitarian crises: a review of the literature. Int J Humanitarian Action. 2018;(3)5. doi: 10.1186/s41018-018-0033-8

2010

• Downar J, Seccareccia D. Palliating a pandemic: "all patients must be cared for". J Pain Symptom Manage. 2010 Feb;39(2):291-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2009.11.241.

2009

• Matzo M, Wilkinson A, Lynn J, Gatto M, Phillips S. Palliative Care Considerations in Mass Casualty Events With Scarce Resources. Biosecur Bioterror. 2009 Jun;7(2):199-210. doi: 10.1089/bsp.2009.0017.

This collection includes fact sheets for the general public, health professionals and industry that outline the funding measures available to help combat coronavirus (COVID-19).

• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Aged Care – Aged Care Preparedness
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Aged Care – Pathology Testing in Aged Care
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Coronavirus Research Response
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Prescriptions via telehealth – a guide for pharmacists (Updated) 
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Prescriptions via telehealth – a guide for prescribers (Updated) 
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Health Protection – COVID-19 National Communication Campaign
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Home Medicines Services information for consumers
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Modelling and Surveillance to Support the Response to COVID-19
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – National Medical Stockpile – Purchase of Masks, Other Personal Protective Equipment and Pharmaceuticals
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Primary Care – Boosting Workforce and Infection Control Training
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Primary Care – Central Patient COVID-19 Triage Hotline
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Primary Care – COVID-19 Remote Community Preparedness and Retrieval
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Primary Care – Fast Track Electronic Prescribing
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Primary Care – MBS telehealth items staged rollout
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Primary Care Package – MBS Telehealth Services and Increased Practice Incentive Payments
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Primary Health – MBS Pathology (Microbiology) Test for COVID-19 and Influenza
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Primary Health – Respiratory Clinics
• COVID-19 National Health Plan – Supporting the mental health of Australians through the Coronavirus pandemic
• COVIDSafe help - Learn more about how to download and use the COVIDSafe app.
• Distribution of PPE through PHNs: Tranche 4, surgical masks and P2/N95 respirators for general practice, community pharmacy, and allied health.
• Easing of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions

Supporting family, friends, residents and staff with grief and loss.

Australian Content

• Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement (ACGB) have developed several Information Sheets for the general public and clinicians examining Grief and Bereavement and COVID-19.
• MyGrief app provides information, tools and resources to support bereaved people and provides practical strategies for families and friends on how best to support someone during their bereavement.

International Content

• Beyond words have a resource entitled: When someone dies from coronavirus: a guide for families and carers. 
• COVID-19 bereavement resources. 
• Cruse Bereavement Centre has a COVID-19 resource page dealing with bereavement and grief. 
• Guide for Indigenous Peoples for processing grief and maintaining holistic health during these uncertain times (15.6MB pdf), from Canadian Virtual Hospice and University of Saskatchewan. 
• How coronavirus has transformed the grieving process.
• Real Talk guide to giving news of a patient’s death to a loved one: a one page evidence-based summary for staff.
• The British Islamic Medical Association have developed a video discussing bereavement and Muslim community.
• The Canadian Virtual Hospice provides a short video providing a perspective for families that are unable to be present at the death.
• The Center for Loss & Life Transition offer this video on Coronavirus and the Six Needs of Mourning.
• Wallace CL, Wladkowski SP, Gibson A, White P. Grief During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Considerations for Palliative Care Providers. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Apr 13:S0885-3924(20)30207-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.012.

This collection includes blogs and newsletters for health professionals and outlines several topics relating to practical responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual podcasts and blogs focussing on aspects of care are listed under individual topics.

Australian Content

• Australian COVID-19 Palliative Care Working Group (ACPCWG) Newsletter
• Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) InSight+ blog series
• Palliative Perspectives blog series
• Podcast: Managing diabetes during COVID-19 - NPS Medicine Wise
• Webinar: COVID-19 response update for primary care and allied health practitioners - 30 September 2020. Presented by Professor Michael Kidd, Dr Anne-marie Boxall and Professor Donna Markham
• Webinar Series for Aged Care Providers around new and emerging issues in the pandemic period, by The Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.

International Content

• BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care blog series
• GeriPal blog and podcast series
• PalliMed blog series
• The BMJ opinion

Care in the person’s home is a reality for many. Resources listed here offer frameworks for care delivery in the home environment.

Australian Content

• CarerHelp has resources for someone caring for a person with a life limiting illness in a COVID-19 environment.
• Caring@home offer online resources to support people to be cared for and to die at home if that is their choice. Resources are applicable Australia-wide for community service providers, health professionals and carers to support carers to help manage breakthrough symptoms safely using subcutaneous medicines.
• End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) Webinar: What Age Care Providers Need to Know About Older Australians and End of Life Care.
• Guide for Home Care Providers COVID-19 is for aged care providers who offer home care services to older people living at home. It provides information and guidance on how to stay safe from coronavirus (COVID-19).

International Content

• Chidiac C, Feuer D, Naismith J, Flatley M, Preston N. Emergency Palliative Care Planning and Support in a COVID-19 Pandemic. J Palliat Med. 2020 Apr 20. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2020.0195. Epub ahead of print.
• Kings College London have created a resource to help people manage breathlessness at home (229kb pdf).
• Khatri P, Seetharaman S, Jamie Phang CM, Andy Lee BX. Home Hospice Services during COVID-19: Ensuring Comfort in Unsettling Times in Singapore. J Palliat Med. 2020 Apr 15. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2020.0186. Epub ahead of print.
• Higginson IJ, Maddocks M, Bayly J, Brighton LJ, Hutchinson A, Booth S, et al. on behalf of the NIHR Applied Research Collaborative Palliative and End of Life Care Theme. Managing your breathlessness at home during the corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak (229kb pdf). 2020 Apr 3.
• The Canadian Virtual Hospice provide videos on how to perform common caregiver duties.

General Practice is at the forefront of patient care in the primary care setting. There are changes in how decisions are made and how clinicians can interact with people they care for, despite COVID-19 status.

Australian Content

• Guide to Non-Pharmacological Interventions in the Palliative Care of Persons Deteriorating and Dying with COVID19 (325kb pdf)
• Management of people with COVID 19 who are older and living with frailty and/or cognitive impairment, a flow chart from the National Covid 19 Clinical task force (154kb pdf).
• Management of people with COVID 19 who are receiving palliative care. A flow chart from the National Covid 19 Clinical task force (158kb pdf).
• The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) have developed a Coronavirus (COVID-19) information for GPs page.
• The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) WA Webinar: COVID-19 Update and managing the patient who tests positive.

International Content

• Communicating with a Patient on a ventilator: tips from a specialist - DailyNurse
• Greenhalgh et al. Assessment and Initial Management of patients with continuing symptoms, a visual summary. BMJ. 2020 Aug 11;370:m3026. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m3026.
• Greenhalgh T, Koh GCH, Car J. Covid-19: a remote assessment in primary care. BMJ. 2020 Mar 25;368:m1182. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m1182.
  • Infographic: Covid-19: a remote assessment in primary care

The COVID-19 pandemic is driving changes in the way Residential Aged Care Homes (RACH) can deliver care. Resources listed here offer frameworks for care delivery in the RACH environment.

Australian Content

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines for outbreaks in residential care facilities
• COTA's Industry Code for Visiting Residential Aged Care Homes during COVID-19. 
• End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) Webinar: What Age Care Providers Need to Know About Older Australians and End of Life Care.
• Precautions for staff caring for aged care home residents who are suspected, probable or confirmed COVID 19 cases poster (507kb pdf), from the ACSQHC.

International Content

• Arons MM, Hatfield KM, Reddy SC, Kimball A, James A, Jacobs JR, et al. Presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections and Transmission in a Skilled Nursing Facility. N Engl J Med. 2020 Apr 24. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2008457
• Care Homes and Coronavirus video made by Open Change and Paul Baughan from Cohort 12 SQSFellowship NHS Education for Scotland.
• Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine provides evidence for preventing respiratory illness in older adults aged 60 years and above living in long-term care.
• Davidson PM, Szanton SL. Nursing homes and COVID-19: we can and should do better. J Clin Nurs. 2020 Apr 12. doi: 10.1111/jocn.15297. Epub ahead of print.
• Health affairs blog : Getting Ahead Of COVID-19 Issues: Dying From Respiratory Failure Out Of The Hospital.
• Joni G, Lara P, Unroe Kathleen T, Lieve VDB. International COVID-19 palliative care guidance for nursing homes leaves key themes unaddressed. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 May 11. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.151. Epub ahead of print.
• Medicaring blog: A Pragmatist’s Advice for Nursing Homes.

Enabling sensitive but clear communication.

Australian Content

• A series of templates for GP's and RACF to support conversations with residents and families about their wishes during covid 19 from PHNNPM.
• Establishing Communications for Residential Aged Care Facilities (166kb pdf) - Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.
• Palliative care during the COVID 19 pandemic. Understanding the necessity for honest conversations and difficult decisions - Palliative Care Australia.

International Content

• Calgary-Cambridge guides on telephone consultations (1.01MB pdf) and difficult conversations (950kb pdf)
• E-learning Course: Communication Skills for Telephone Consultations 
• Halpern J. Working with families facing undesired outcomes during the COVID-19 crisis (146kb pdf). (Tip sheet)
• PalliCOVID app provide a range of video simulations illustrating difficult conversations. 
• Podcast: The challenges of communicating with families forced to distance themselves from their loved ones.
• Real Talk guide on:
  • COVID-19: Evidence-based advice for difficult conversations.
  • How to have urgent conversations about withdrawing and withholding life-sustaining treatments in critical care – including phone and video calls.
• Schwarze ML, Zelenski A, Baggett ND, Kalbfell E, Ljumani F, Silverman E, et al. Best Case/Worst Case: ICU (COVID-19)—A Tool to Communicate with Families of Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19. Palliative Medicine Reports. 2020 Apr 30;1(1):3-4. doi: 10.1089/pmr.2020.0038.
• Social Work Hospice & Palliative Care Network (SWHPN) have a range of communication tools available on their website.
• Specific phrases & word choices that can be helpful when dealing with COVID19.
• Telehealth tip sheet for phone and video consultations (115kb pdf) 
• The Vital Talk COVID Ready Communication Playbook provides guidance outlines how to approach a person about COVID-19.
• University of Toronto COVID-19 Goals of Care - Communication Guide for Clinicians.

Changes in resources will influence usual patterns of care and their associated ethical norms.

Australian Content

• Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law have collated existing guidance on Allocating Scarce Healthcare Resources During The COVID-19 Pandemic
• University of Wollongong (UOW) provide a framework for the ethical allocation of ventilators and ICU beds (637kb pdf) during pandemic-associated scarcity.

International Content

• GeriPal podcast on Rationing Life Saving Treatments in the Setting of COVID Pandemics.
• The Hastings Center has published an Ethical Framework for Health Care Institutions Responding to Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) (315kb pdf).
• The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) provides guidance on ethical, professional decision making in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

A rapid review outlining the available evidence on a discrete topic or question relating to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence includes grey and peer review literature.

• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (328kb pdf)
• Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines (400kb pdf)
• Dedicated or temporary COVID-19 healthcare facilities (623kb pdf)
• Drug therapies and COVID-19 (320kb pdf)
• Mental health of healthcare workers (794kb pdf)
• Models for redeploying staff (439kb pdf)
• Modes of transmission for COVID-19 (190kb pdf)
• Palliative care and COVID-19 (490kb pdf)
• Personal protective equipment and intrapartum care for low risk women (388kb pdf)
• Prone position for COVID-19 patients (188kb pdf)
• The effect of COVID-19 on healthcare workforce - infections (434kb pdf)
• Tools to support communication between patients and families (225kb pdf)
• Triage tools for ICU admission during COVID-19 (3MB pdf)
• Winter and COVID-19 transmission (928kb pdf).

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced families to approach funerals in different ways.

International Content

• 10 Ideas for Funerals and Memorials when you cant be together - What's your Grief.
• Center for Loss & Life Transition video discussing Funerals in the Time of Coronavirus: Thoughts for Families.
• Good Grief offer a podcast series titled Funerals in a Pandemic: Navigating a New Normal.
• Hospice foundation of America has put their webinar Making Funerals Meaningful in the Age of COVID-19 online

This series of documents provide a series of recommendations and suggestions to ensure continued high-quality clinical care in the setting of a pandemic.

Australian Content

• Interim guidance, based on expert opinion, to aid decision-making for clinicians treating patients with cancers.
• PalliAGED Symptoms and Medicines pages guide clinicians to evidenced based guidance relating to care in the last days of life.
• The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) COVID-19 Guidelines.

International Content

Some medications listed in these guides are unavailable in Australia, see the palliAGEDgp smartphone App for Australian guidance regarding medicines and dosing into the terminal phase.

• Cairdeas International Palliative Care Trust website has 11 symptom guidelines developed by MPCU and shared through the Integrate THET project. They can be used in poster form or as laminated A4 on clinical areas.
• European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Coronavirus and the Palliative Care Response.
• Kings College London have produced guidelines on self-management of breathlessness. Please note, it is not advisable to use a fan currently due to the possibility of droplet spread.
• Northern Care Alliance NHS Group COVID-19 and Palliative, End of Life and Bereavement Care in Secondary Care - Role of the speciality and guidance to aid care (546kb pdf) Guidelines.
• Nova Scotia Health Authority Guidelines Symptom management for adult patients with COVID-19 receiving end-of-life supportive care outside the ICU (782kb pdf).
• The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine offers Guidelines for preventing respiratory illness in older adults aged 60 years and above living in long-term care.
• The Interim Guidelines on Management Of COVID-19 in Kenya COVID-19 (2.40MB pdf) provide recommendations for comprehensive prevention and case management strategies in Kenya.
• The Regional Geriatric Program (RGP) of Toronto have developed a guideline entitled Considerations for Preventing And Managing Delirium In Older Adults During The COVID-19 Pandemic, Across The Care Continuum (329kb pdf).

A network of processes and behaviours that determines the way that medicines are used by patients

Australian Content

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) information for pharmacists - update from Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
• COVID-19 National Health Plan - prescriptions via telehealth - a guide for prescribers (859kb pdf).
• Home medicines service - Information for Consumers (276kb pdf) enables vulnerable people and people in self-isolation to order their PBS and RPBS prescriptions remotely and have their medicines home delivered to reduce their potential exposure to COVID-19.
• Prescriptions via telehealth - state and territory rules
• South Australian Core palliative medicines List
• The Australian & New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM) community medications list (97kb pdf) recommended medicines to manage terminal phase symptoms.
• The National Prescribing Service (NPS) has provided consumer information entitled Using your medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic and a set of resources available on Being medicinewise during COVID-19
• Updated guidelines for the management of Corticosteroids for the clinical care of adults with COVID 19 - National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Task Force

International Content

• COVID 19 prescribing briefing: Corticosteroids (858kb pdf).

Enabling every individual to achieve their own potential, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and contribute to their community. Also, see Self-Care.

Australian Content

• Australian Psychological Society has developed information sheets for the community.
• NSW Health offer a comprehensive list of national support services to help with an individual’s mental health.

International Content

• The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine asks Can social prescribing support the COVID-19 pandemic?

Integrated modelling can be useful in supporting decision makers in allocating resources.

Australian Content

• The Australian Government’s Impact of COVID-19 (2.45MB pdf) outlines scenario modelling undertaken to inform how Australia is preparing our health system, including our intensive care units, for COVID-19.

Self-care is any activity that is deliberately performed in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health.

Australian Content

• 10 Psychological Tips for helping with Coronavirus - MindSpot.org.au
• Conversation and Action Guide to Support Staff Wellbeing and Joy in Work During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Digital Mental Health tools that can help during Covid 19 - Black Dog Institute.
• The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA) and the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists (NZSA) have developed a guide called Looking after your mental wellbeing (1.08MB pdf)
• The Essential Network (TEN) - a mobile app supporting health professionals to manage life and work during COVID 19 - Black Dog Institute & RANZCP.
• The Pandemic Kindness Movement was created by clinicians across Australia, working together to support all health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

International Content

• Canadian Virtual Hospice provide resources on Staying well on the frontlines of COVID-19 (407kb pdf). 
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Managing Stress and Anxiety.
• Shanafelt T, Ripp J, Trockel M. Understanding and Addressing Sources of Anxiety Among Health Care Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA. 2020 Apr 7. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.5893. Epub ahead of print.
• Stress, Coping and Resilience is a 6 minute visual guidance for healthcare staff about stress coping and resilience during COVID-19 pandemic.
• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre offers Tips for health-care workers: How to get better sleep during COVID-19. 
• The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine’s resources on resilience and well-being.
• The Danna-Farber Cancer Institute offer advice on Caring for the Caregiver: How to Handle Stress and Anxiety During COVID-19. 
• The New York Academy of Medicine has a page dedicated to Mental Health Information and Resources. 
• University at Buffalo School of Social Work Self-Care Starter Kit.

Useful hashtags to follow include:

• #pallicovid
• #palliatecoronavirus
• #highriskcovid19

Australia is a diverse nation with different religious, spirituality, sexuality, culture, and socio-economic backgrounds and personal experiences.

Australian Content

• 10 Psychological Tips for helping with Coronavirus - MindSpot.org.au
• Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (ABMSANT) have developed:
  • COVID-19 information translated into a range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages
  • A Planning Check List for Primary Health Centres (38kb pdf).
• COVID-19 and Obesity Special Report
• COVID-19 in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with chronic suppurative lung disease (CSLD) - Guidance for primary care (611kb pdf), from NACCHO
• Dementia Australian have published a range of Dementia Help Sheets to navigate coronavirus COVID-19.
• Ethnolink Language Services have developed a variety of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Translated Resources
• Management and Operational Plan for People with Disability
• NSW Health have put together a variety of frequently asked questions (FAQs) sheets about COVID-19 and are available in multiple languages, including English, Chinese - Simplified and Traditional, Arabic, Indonesian, Farsi, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese.
• Safe Hospital Care for people with cognitive impairment during COVID 19 (132kb pdf), a fact sheet for clinicians from ACSQHC (Safety and Quality)
• The Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (AHCWA) have produced a video encouraging people to Look after all of your health problems. 

International Content

• Alzheimers Disease International (ADI) shares guidance on hospital admission and triage for people with dementia during COVID 19 
• Covid 19 and Diabetes: a co-conspiracy? an editorial by the Lancet
• Gender Based Violence (2MB pdf) - discussing the Impact of COVID-19 social distancing and isolation
• Responding to hard questions and emotional distress about COVID-19 from dialysis patients or their families (5.27MB pdf)
• The Geriatric Emergency Department Collaborative have put together this COVID-19 in Older Adults: Key Points for Emergency Department Providers
• The New York Academy of Medicine has a Key Populations page which aims to share best practices, resources and news curated through a health equity lens for learning and action.

Spirituality is a sense of connection to something bigger than us. It is a universal human experience—something that touches us all.

International Content

• The Chaplaincy Innovation Lab shares resources for Chaplains encountering coronavirus.

Using telecommunication for the purpose of providing telemedicine, medical education, and health education over a distance.

Australian Content

• Barwon Health have developed an informed consent form for telehealth video consultations (188kb pdf)
• COVID 19 Guidance on getting started with telehealth (146kb pdf) (Australasian Telehealth Society)
• Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC) Webinar: Providing virtual care in allied health: the possibilities and potential of telehealth during the pandemic and beyond.
• Prescriptions via telehealth - a guide for pharmacists
• Several new temporary Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) telehealth services have been created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The RACGP has developed resources to support GPs in consulting remotely via phone and video during COVID-19:
  • Guide to providing telephone and video consultations in general practice (2.45MB pdf)
  • Telephone and video consultations in general practice: Flowcharts (837kb pdf).
• The RACGP have also recorded a phone and video consultations 'how to' webinar to support GPs in providing telehealth consultations during COVID-19.
• The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists also have a useful guide to Telehealth in psychiatry.
• The University of Queensland have developed some Quick guides for telehealth, supporting clinicians to use videoconferencing facilities effectively.

International Content

• Ariadne Labs provide a video: Simulated Telemedicine Demonstration of COVID-19 Conversation Guide for Outpatient Care.
• Humphreys J, Schoenherr L, Elia G, Saks NT, Brown C, Barbour S, Pantilat SZ. Rapid Implementation of Inpatient Telepalliative Medicine Consultations During COVID-19 Pandemic. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020 Apr 10:S0885-3924(20)30195-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.001. Epub ahead of print.
• New England Journal of Medicine Perspective: Hollander JE, Carr BG. Virtually Perfect? Telemedicine for COVID-19. 2020 Mar 11.
• Telehealth start up guide in a home based palliative care program (163kb pdf) - CAPC.
• Telemedicine Palliative Care Assessment template (17kb docx).
• The agency for healthcare research and quality have developed a White Paper looking at The Evidence Base for Telehealth: Reassurance in the Face of Rapid Expansion During the COVID-19 Pandemic. 
• The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine answers 'Are there any evidence-based ways of assessing dyspnoea (breathlessness) by telephone or video?'.
• The Center to Advance Palliative Care’s blog: 'Telemedicine: Virtual Connection in an Age of Social Distancing'.
• The Mid-Atlantic Telehealth Resource Centre (MATRC) has produced a range of Telehealth Resources for the COVID-19 period.
• Wherton J, Shaw S, Papoutsi C, Seuren L, Greenhalgh T. Guidance on the introduction and use of video consultations during COVID-19: important lessons from qualitative research. BMJ Leader. 2020 May 18. doi: 10.1136/leader-2020-000262. Online First.

• Australia's COVID-19 vaccine national roll-out strategy  NEW 
• Communication skills for the COVID vaccine - Vital Talk  NEW 
• COVID-19 Vaccination in Haematology Patients: An Australia and New Zealand Consensus Position Statement (144kb pdf) - HSANZ  NEW  
• Vaccines and COVID-19 - NPS Medicinewise (Australia)  NEW 

A sample of documents which assist in organising patient related activities. Templates focussing on aspects of care (eg. telehealth) are listed under individual topics.

International Content

• COVID-19 Scottish Primary Care Hub Triage Guide (538kb pdf).
• Healthcare Professional Preparedness Checklist for Transport and Arrival of Patients With Confirmed or Possible COVID-19

Workplace safety refers to the working environment and encompasses all factors that impact the safety, health, and well-being of employees.

Australian Content

• Carers facing additional pressures during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis
• COVID-19 Information for Employers (124kb pdf) from the Australian Government.
• Safe Work Australia infographic (77kb pdf) describing the approach to staff who are suspected or confirmed as having COVID-19.

International Content

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide guidance for Implementing Safety Practices for Critical Infrastructure Workers Who May Have Had Exposure to a Person with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19.