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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.
The care that people receive as they approach the end of their life really does matter. It matters to the person, it matters to the people who love them, and it is a reflection of our societal values. Everyone is affected by death during their lives and everyone dies; indeed, death is a universal health outcome. We need to do end-of-life care well. Decision Assist, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, recognises that GPs and aged care workers should be supported to provide quality end-of-life care to meet the needs of older Australians. To help support GPs, ANZSPM, as a part of Decision Assist, is promoting a framework of care that is based on a palliative approach and suitable for people in the last year of life and can help guide clinicians to provide high quality end-of-life care focussing on a person’s preferences for care and proactive delivery of holistic comprehensive care.
In its 'Dying Well' report published in September last year, the Grattan Institute said 14% of Australians die in their own home. The option of care at home is often well-received by patients and carers alike. Enablers for people to remain at home include support from their general practitioner (GP) as well as access to good symptom control. Given the small proportion of people who require support at home in the last days of life and the infrequency of managing this patient group, there are some simple tips for GPs to consider with regards to prescribing medicines. These five tips help the GP to anticipate the barriers to timely access to good symptom control and possibly avoid an unnecessary hospitalisation for an issue that could have been effectively managed in the community.