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The views and opinions expressed in our blog series are those of the authors and are not necessarily supported by CareSearch, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health.
Rapport is an essential ingredient of quality palliative care. What is important to the person as a human being, not as a “sufferer of terminal illness”, will shape the choices that they make at the end of life. In recognition of World Social Work Day ‘Promoting the Importance of Human Relationships’, Jan Obery, social worker from Central Adelaide Palliative Care Service outlines the important work of social workers who accompany people at end of life by identifying and addressing the issues which cause the person the most grief and difficulty adapting to their changed circumstance.
Many people do not receive the right care at the end of life in residential aged care. Nigel McGothigan from LASA discusses complexities of the Aged Care Industry and the importance of resources such as the palliAGED Practice Tip Sheets for aged care workers to support them in providing exceptional and exemplary care.
Many people working in aged care are faced with challenges of not knowing what to do for someone in their care. Prosper Sithole from Bupa Aged Care Australia discusses her experience has a registered nurse working in aged care and how access to evidence-based resources, such as the palliAGED practice tip sheets, can support those looking after the elderly.
Across residential and home-based aged care at least 70% of direct care ('hands on' care) is provided by careworkers. Many of the people they care for could benefit from palliative care. To support current and future careworkers to understand and build capacity in palliative care, palliAGED managed by CareSearch, have launched an entry-point collection of evidence-based learning resources: palliAGED Practice Tip Sheets for Careworkers in aged care. Dr Katrina Erny-Albrecht, Professor Jennifer Tieman and Susan Gravier from CareSearch discuss this new freely-available palliAGED resource and how it is responding to the need for sector support while aged care issues are part of the conversation.