Nurse ‘Trailblazer’ helps improve aged care
A Canberra-based nurse practitioner (NP) who developed an innovative model integrating specialist palliative care into residential aged care in a bid to give people more dignity and choice at the end of life was recently named the inaugural Health Minister’s Nursing Trailblazer following Australia’s launch of the global Nursing Now campaign in Sydney. Established by […]
Advance Care Planning: start the conversation
People have different goals at the end of life that reflect their values, says Palliative Care Project Officer Will Hallahan of Bethesda Health Care. “Some people do not want to be connected to a machine, they value bodily integrity. Others have spiritual or religious values. Some will tolerate pain and discomfort, other people are terrified […]
Palliative resources to care for Indigenous people
A new palliative care and end-of-life resource portal for the workforce who support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has been launched by Palliative Care Australia (PCA) and Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. Relevant resources will be located in the one portal for health professionals to help provide palliative and end-of-life care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait […]
Study examines advance care directive uptake
Researchers are collating data from a range of healthcare organisations to determine whether older Australians are receiving suitable advance care planning that aligns with the medical care they want and their personal values and preferences. General practice clinics, aged care facilities and hospitals are among organisations taking part in the ground-breaking study about Advance Care […]
Why are we still reluctant to talk about end of life care?
Quality end–of–life care (EOLC) and decision making has been prominent in the literature over recent years with EOLC having a significant bearing on the process of dying and effect upon family and significant others during this time (Raijmakers, 2013, Caswell et al. 2015). The call has been to move beyond a ‘death denying culture’ but […]