Changing Your Care Approach

There are a number of ways that health professionals can enhance their understanding and skills in providing culturally responsive palliative care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. You can attend training opportunities made available within your health service or through your professional associations. You can apply for a PEPA placement (as described in the Developing your Knowledge and Skills section within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Care). Learning options are outlined below.

Education and Training Options

PEPA placement and reverse-PEPA placement schemes and culture-centred care workshop
PCC4U palliative care curriculum module on Caring for Aboriginal people with life-limiting conditions
- This includes a case story video 'Tom's Story'

EdCan learning resources for nurses provides an online course on Cancer Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Medicare Australia provides an eLearning program about Indigenous health services which introduces the range of Medicare services that support Indigenous health
CareSearch Education Section, with Whole of Workforce framework and listings of short courses, workshops, and web-based learning
Options for education more broadly on culturally responsive health care can be found in the Developing your Knowledge and Skills section within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Care section.

Policy and Guidelines

PEPA's Cultural Considerations Providing end of life care for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples provides essential information for health professionals that will enable them to deliver the best cultural care during the end of life journey for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people.
Providing culturally appropriate palliative care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: Resource kit from the National Palliative Care Program's Indigenous Palliative Care Project, provides strategies and training material to support health staff in providing culturally appropriate palliative care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This resource kit includes Practice Principles, the Resource, Discussion Paper, and a Course. More details on each component of the resource kit and its development within the National Indigenous Palliative Care Project is available in a Project Summary.
Sad news, sorry business: Guidelines for caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through death and dying (453kb pdf) from Queensland Health.
A guide to care for those with a terminal condition: Honouring the choices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT community (751kb pdf) from ACT Health.

Practical resources for you

Watch the video 'Tom's Story' from the PCC4U palliative care curriculum module on Caring for Aboriginal people with life-limiting conditions
Palliative Care Victoria have several valuable resources for health professionals about caring for Aboriginal Australians
On the Palliative Care Bridge website you can watch a video of Dr Anthoulla Mohamudally talking about Aboriginal palliative care
In the 'Areas of Practice' section of the CareSearch Nurses section, there is information regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
In palliAGED you can find more resources relevant to Indigenous Australians and aged care
In palliAGED, you can find out more information on how careworkers can provide culturally appropriate care by viewing the Practice Tip Sheets on Culturally Responsive Care (396kb pdf) and on talking with our First Australians (391kb pdf) in aged care

Resources for your patients and their family

The Patients, Families and Community Journeys section within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Care section has a range of resources that you can print for your patients and their families on many different topics. You can also suggest that patients and their family and community members visit the section of the CareSearch website themselves.

Next: Resources for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce

Last updated 01 July 2020