An important part of preparing for COVID-19 is to include advance care planning as part of your response. Only 25% of older Australians aged 65 years and over have documented their preferences in an Advance Care Directive. In her guest blog, Advance Care Planning Australia (ACPA) Program Director, Linda Nolte, shares why it is imperative to increase advance care planning for older Australians as the aged care sector prepares for the spread of the coronavirus.

CareSearch is proud to be a member of the Australian Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Palliative Care Working Group (ACPCWG) established to provide support during the current coronavirus pandemic. As part of the ACPCWG response CareSearch has developed an online Palliative Care and COVID-19 Hub to support everyone to prepare in case the demand for end-of-life care increases during the pandemic. With pages tailored to the needs of different health and care professional groups, as well as the needs of patients, carers and families, the hub provides immediate access to trustworthy information and resources including care guidelines arising from international experience. This is an emerging and rapidly changing situation and to ensure currency we will be updating hub content on a weekly basis. 

As part of our recent update of the CareSearch Clinical Evidence pages we have released updated pages on Advance Care Planning (ACP). Providing an insight into the very latest evidence on ACP implementation and outcomes, this synthesis of the evidence also addresses the importance of using clearly defined terms when discussing ACP.

Additional pressures on the healthcare system during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can challenge the way we approach activities we perform routinely, including the management of medicines. Paul Tait, Lead Palliative Care Pharmacist at Southern Adelaide Palliative Care Services discusses five tips to ensure good medicines management for people living with palliative care needs in their home.