Palliative care is ‘everyone’s business’
As Australia’s population ages, the demand is building to extend the reach and effectiveness of palliative care services. The message is even clearer this week during National Palliative Care Week, which aims to raise awareness about palliative care and end of life issues.
As Australia’s population ages, the demand is building to extend the reach and effectiveness of palliative care services.
The message is even clearer this week during National Palliative Care Week, which aims to raise awareness about palliative care and end of life issues.
Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, claimed the federal government had made major investments into palliative care and supporting services in a number of areas.
Most recently, Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek, announced the federal government’s investment of $10 million to enable Advance Care Directives to be included on the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record.
Minister Butler said this would mean people would be able to share their end of life plans with any of their chosen doctors, hospitals, family members or carers, regardless of geographic location. This includes the 110,000 people requiring palliative care each year.
“Advanced care planning is vitally important to palliative care services and this inclusion will allow families to be true to the wishes of their loved ones as they approach end of life care.
“It is vitally important that one’s wishes and the circumstances surrounding end of life care are recorded so that everyone – health professional and family members – are clear about personal preferences,” Minister Butler said.
In addition, the federal government committed $19.8 million as part of Living Longer. Living Better aged care reforms to establish specialist advisory services on palliative care.
“With an increasingly multicultural and diverse nation, expert advisory services will support aged care providers and general practitioners to deliver better quality palliative care for clients of aged care services,” Minister Butler said.
The theme for National Palliative Care Week is ‘Palliative Care… everyone’s business’. For more information about National Palliative Care Week events and activities visit the Palliative Care Australia website.
To participate, Palliative Care Australia is encouraging individuals to upload a tribute to honour the memory of those who have passed away at the ‘My Tribute’ website.
