Counselling and grief support for the person with the illness and their family and carers is an integral part of palliative care. Access to counselling services within Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACF) is often limited. Yet, with 84% of Residents dying within two years of entry into RAC, most Residents require end of life (EoL) care. 

The Grief Counselling service at our organisation aims to support Residents, their families and carers through the multiple losses associated with the transition into RACF, dementia, the accumulation of a lifetime of grief as well as at EoL and bereavement support for family and carers.

Embedded within the Clinical Services Team (CS Team) and led by a Nurse Practitioner with Palliative and Dementia Care Clinical Nurse Consultants (CNC) in RACF, we integrate counselling services in the delivery of palliative care to Residents.  This role covers 23 RACF and access to our in-house service is available to about 2200 Residents. In line with palliative care, counselling is person and family-centred and adapted to the needs of the Resident. Considering the generational context of the Residents, their perceptions of counselling and their stoicism in the face of difficulties, we modify our approach with a focus on early engagement, interventions and collaborative care.

We present case studies from our practice that demonstrate the benefits of our alignment to the CS Team, adaptations used for counselling with this generation and the qualitative impact on Residents and their family. 

As part of the puzzle to address the emotional and psychological needs of Residents and their families and carers, we support the palliative care CNCs to deliver holistic care to Residents. Furthermore, building on the connections with the CS Team, we are looking towards integrating trauma-informed care within palliative care of Residents.