Have you ever tried to broach the topic of end-of-life wishes with a loved one and been met with stunned silence? People often report this kind of experience, and research indicates that many people are uncomfortable with discussing death and dying. This leaves many Australians unprepared for death and the decisions that need to be made when a person is dying. Dr Lauren Miller-Lewis discusses the importance of bringing conversations about death to life through online learning. 

Australia is a dynamic multicultural country. Ours is a nation that is home to one of the world’s oldest culture and millions of people belonging to 270 ancestries. We need quality evidence to be able to address the needs and challenges faced by our older CALD Australians and provide them person and family-centred palliative care. Mary Patetsos discusses providing person- and family-centred palliative care for a culturally diverse Australia and the importance to have resources like CareSearch.

Professor Imogen Mitchell discusses her role as a practising intensive care specialist and the value of evidence to inform decisions not only about individual patient care but the use of evidence in business discussions to improve the delivery of health care. Imogen highlights you can access this trustworthy information about the palliative approach to end-of-life care through CareSearch and the importance of CareSearch providing invaluable, up-to-date evidence. 

CareSearch is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. For 10 years CareSearch has been assembling and disseminating evidence becoming the major online source for palliative care evidence in Australia. Jennifer Tieman, CareSearch Director, discusses CareSearch's role and contribution, as well as touches on what is planned over the next three years.  

Most Australians have an expectation that their GP will be able to provide them with the care they need when they are unwell, or at least make sure that they are linked in with the right services. While most GPs feel they have a role to play in caring for patients at the end-of-life, many do not feel confident in doing so.

Recognised barriers to providing palliative care include patient complexity, inadequate training, inadequate access to resources and poor communication from specialists or treating teams.

Palliative care and advance care planning is, and should be, part of the normal scope of practice of all primary care providers. To support this ELDAC has developed the primary care toolkit with relevant information and resources.