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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.
When it comes to dying in an acute hospital, clinicians need some help and guidance to know how to care for vulnerable patients and what is needed at this point of their life. Maite Uribe from Southern Adelaide Palliative Care Service discusses caring for dying patients in an acute hospital setting, and three tips for getting it right.
The use of evidence in allied health is evolving and more allied health professionals are now becoming involved in research training, knowledge generation, knowledge translation, evidence implementation and policy setting. Matt Ransom from the International Centre for Allied Health Evidence (iCAHE) discusses the importance of using evidence-based practice within allied health and the resources that exist to help allied health professionals access the evidence.
End of life law governs medical decisions made at the end of life, as well as around Advance Care Planning. Every year in Australia thousands of deaths occur following a medical decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. This is just one type of end of life decision which may arise in aged care practice.
Older people living in residential aged care facilities need to be provided high quality end-of-life care. This will often involve nurses who will help with advance care planning and implement a palliative approach to care. Mia Taylen-Smith of Metro South Palliative Care discusses how their Improving End-of-Life Care Residential Aged Care Residents Initiative aims to enable aged care nurses.
The end of life makes older people more vulnerable to elder abuse. Dr Kelly Purser and Associate Professor Tina Cockburn from the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Faculty of Law at Queensland University of Technology discuss the escalating, and often hidden, problem of elder abuse in Australia’s ageing population and the different forms it can take.