Background: Palliative Care is Core Business in Aged Care. All Residential Aged Care staff deserve access to clear, free and flexible education and mentorship, in order to help provide the best client centered outcomes for their residents. 

Aim: To deliver education and mentorship to anyone working in residential aged care, empowering quality, informed, client centered care, and allowing peer-based interaction across the region.  

Goal: Improved palliative care outcomes for clients residing in residential aged care in the Hume region.  

Methods: Education was delivered online, monthly over 6 months, with topics in line with the ELDAC model of care. Live sessions were available, but also recorded so that participation was not soley dependent upon being available at a particular time. Providing equitable access to education, regardless of shift work or location. Succinct short homework is set each month, following a case study, so that understanding of the content can be established. This also promoted the use of already existing Palliative Care resources readily available to aged care workers (such as ELDAC PalliAGED and Caresearch).  

Data Collection: Participants were encouraged to complete a knowledge self-assessment, before and after the program. On completion of the programme, they were directed to the ELDAC death audit took to use as an ongoing barometer of progress.  

Results/Conclusions: Positive participant feedback from the course, as well as a growing number of participants with each intake, show the success of this model. This program has shown to be popular and also complementary when delivered as part of a larger body of support and resources provided by the resource nurses in the region. It also aims to foster networks and knowledge sharing amongst the aged care workforce across the region.

Lessons Learnt:  Providing variety in content delivery and format can cater more successfully to varied learning styles, demands of shift work and personal preferences.