Blog

People with intellectual disability, just like everyone else, have a right to understand dying and death. In this second blog for our Part of Life series, Dr Michele Wiese, Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Western Sydney University discusses how the ‘Talking end of life…with people with intellectual disability’ (TEL) can help them understand end of life, and make plans for it if they choose.

The life expectancy of people with an intellectual disability (ID) has increased but people with ID are under-referred to palliative care and there is currently no model of palliative care in Australia or specific guidelines for services to meet their needs. In the 13th blog for our National Palliative Care Project series, Dr Rachael Cvejic from the Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry at the University of NSW Sydney discusses a new project which aims to improve palliative care services for people with an intellectual disability.

Work with advanced seniors, perhaps more than for any other group of adults, demands an ability to be present first and foremost. In her third and last blog in this series, Felicity Chapman a Mental Health Clinician and Aged Care Specialist highlights the importance of being able to engage with older adults as well as being present with them and discusses how this can be achieved.

Improving the quality of care for people in residential and community aged care settings is very important, especially with an ageing population. In the 12th blog for our National Palliative Care Project series, Distinguished Professor Patsy Yates and Karen Clifton from Queensland University of Technology discuss how the End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) Project will help to support health professionals and aged care workers.

In her latest blog, Dr Priyanka Vandersman introduces the ELDAC Digital Dashboard, a one-stop shop for aged care providers to graphically view and track all end of life care activities and processes relating to their residents and clients. The dashboard is currently undergoing an implementation study to measure its impact and usability for aged care clinicians who provide palliative and end-of-life care to older Australians.