Authors
  • Jo Sanders1,
  • Ben Sankey1,
  • Lesley McLeod1,
  • Arvind Gunasekaran1,
  • Liz Reymond1,
  • Liz Reymond2
Organisations
  • Brisbane South Palliative Care Collaborative1,
  • Griffith University2
Year

2022

Excerpt
Background:

Despite known benefits of ACP and the fact that it’s supported by legislation and seen as a national priority, the implementation of ACP in Australia remains low. In Australia in 2020 a study indicated that only 27% of 300 RACF residents that presented to Emergency Departments arrived with an advance care plan.

Aim:

To support volunteer RACFs within the Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network (CQWBSC PHN) catchment area to embed an evidence-based ACP program, adapted for individual facilities, into routine clinical care to support high quality end-of-life care for residents and their families/friends.

Methods:

The project used several methods to support change within RACFs and embed ACP including:

  • Provision of best practice evidence-based resources suitable for staff, residents, and family
  • Bespoke face-to-face ACP education tailored to individual facilities
  • Virtual education sessions designed to upskill RACFs on the importance and processes of ACP.
  • Development, in partnership with the Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning, and mentoring of the ACP Train-the-Trainer Guide, a comprehensive evidence-based resource designed to create RACF ACP Champions who then upskill staff through PowerPoint presentations, peer support, resources, and policy and procedure templates.
  • Face-to-face end-of-life education with General Practitioners (GPs) associated with RACFs
  • Provision of educational resources to medical deputising services.
Findings:

Data from 43 participant evaluations indicates that education presented at face-face workshops has created a 48.9% increase (20 participants) in knowledge of how to access ACP documents, a 60.5% (26 participants) increase in knowledge of the law related to ACP in Queensland, and a 55.9% increase (24 participants) in knowledge of the End-of-Life Care Framework.

Discussion:

Early findings indicate the project is well on track to achieving its aim of supporting RACFs to embed ACP into routine clinical care within the CQWBSC PHN catchment area. A total of 93.5 hours of education engagement has been delivered over the course of the project with a total of 429 attendees at face-to-face and virtual education sessions.

Conclusion:

This project will create the knowledge and skills for RACFs to embed ACP processes within routine clinical care.

Funding acknowledgement:

Central Queensland Wide Bay Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network.