Join the Paediatric Palliative Care National Action Plan Project in launching the revised edition of the Green Book.

This is a practical guide to some of the issues relating to the care of a child or young person with a life limiting condition.

Dr. Joanne Doran, palliative care specialist, will interview Kelly Anderson, PEPA Northern Territory Manager, and Prof. Hsien Seow, palliative care researcher from Canada. Kelly will describe the IPEPA’s (Indigenous Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach) successes to date, continued challenges, and needs for the future. Hsien will describe his experiences developing an educational program co-designed with First Nations health care providers to incorporate culturally appropriate practices, and applicable lessons for Australia. 

The presentation will focus on the barriers people with disabilities are experiencing in trying to experience a positive end of life journey. This has been informed by National Disability Services engagement with disability service providers, disability workers, people with disabilities, palliative care providers and key stakeholders such as government agencies. We are working with this array of people as we work to find collaborative solutions to address the barriers.   

People with disabilities have the same rights to end of life planning and support as everyone. However, the reality is very different, especially for people with an intellectual, developmental disability and people who require augmentative or assistive communication. 

The barriers to be discussed and their potential for improvement include intersecting areas within health and disability. These are access to appropriate information for people with disabilities their families and carers, capabilities of disability, palliative care and broader health sector workers related to end-of-life stages and supports for people with disabilities, and complexities associated with reporting requirements across Australia when a person with a disability dies.

This presentation will invite conference members to reflect on the barriers identified and how these intersect with their roles and responsibilities for solution focused outcomes. Conference members will be asked to consider how they can contribute to or influence the improvements needed to ensure that people with disabilities can experience a planned and positive end of life journey, with family, carer’s co-residents and workers part of their journey as required. 

Conference MC Jo Doran will speak with Joan Ryan about the Palliative Care and Homelessness project. Joan will share the critical points of the project and take us through some of the key issues that people experiencing homelessness face when it comes to the end of life.

Background: People who are homeless have a reduced life span compared with the general population but inequitable access to palliative care. Current mainstream health services lack awareness and flexibility required to support early and equitable access for palliative care for people experiencing homelessness. The point of entry into palliative care is often late, chaotic and unfortunately with only the end in mind.
 
Objective: To increase awareness of the unmet palliative care needs of people experiencing tertiary homelessness (living in boarding houses), in two Sydney local health districts that results in at least two direct contacts/referrals from community services between July-December 2022, from a baseline of zero.

Approach: Following the Stanford Medicine Center quality improvement process, our SPHERE PC-CAG project gap analysis included mapping of current referral pathways, a 'fish bone' analysis, and a unique local area map of socio-economic disadvantage. Identified key drivers included recognition of the complex needs of homelessness populations and focused relationships and linkages with key stakeholders. Targeted interventions included staff and key stakeholder education about palliative care, site visits to boarding houses and homelessness services and establishing a centralized point of contact for palliative care referrals including hospital and community services.

Findings: We surpassed our initial goal of two direct community referrals for people experiencing homelessness with palliative care needs, achieving 10 referrals by December, 2022.

Conclusions: Shifting referral pathways from within acute hospitals to community homelessness services who already have established relationships and knowledge of the unmet health needs of people experiencing homelessness, encouraged earlier access to palliative care services. Driving change and addressing the unmet palliative care needs of people experiencing homelessness can be achieved through structured quality improvement approaches, creative partnerships building on trust and connection with the homelessness services that already support homelessness needs in the community.

Presentation Themes: Driving stronger health care systems & Quality palliative care for diverse populations, both for consumers and service providers

The highly regarded feature film Live the Life you Pleaseis launching a series of shorter excerpts for teaching and training purposes. We are the first audience in Australia to see the 30-minute version. 

Come along as UTS welcomes you to 23OPCC! It is an opportunity for you to unwind after a full day of challenging learning and discussion. This event offers the sector the chance to re-establish connections and establish new ones.

Sponsored by UTS - Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative