palliAGED updates

Research evidence has an important role in aged care. Evidence helps us ensure that older Australians receive care and treatment that is effective and suitable to their needs. CareSearch has updated and expanded its Evidence pages to become an Evidence and Translation Centre. The new Centre brings together ‘where to find’ and ‘how to use’ palliative care evidence so that health professionals and services can improve care outcomes. 
 
Two new hubs help health professionals develop their knowledge and skills. Evidence Training, focuses on evidence-based practice (EBP), quality improvement (QI) and research. Translation Training shows health professionals how to bridge the gap between research and practice.

Flinders University’s Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD) partnered with palliAGED and CareSearch to promote National Palliative Care Week, 22 -28 May 2022 with a special morning tea for the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Passion and compassion featured in each of the three speeches which highlighted the need to build social awareness about end of life and to support people who are aging, caring, dying and grieving.
 
Watch Professor Jennifer Tieman, Director of RePaDD, Professor Alison Kitson, Vice-President and Executive Dean, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and Professor Ray Chan, Director, Caring Futures Institute speak at the event

In January 2022 palliAGED launched an expanded and updated For the Community section. The new section now provides information on:

• What is Palliative Care
• Older Australia
• Diverse Australia
• Illness and Family Caring
• At the End of Life
• Bereavement, Grief and Loss
• Finding Services and Support
• Developing Knowledge and Skills

You can read our blog or the project page to learn more about the project and why it was undertaken.

Quality aged care includes providing palliative care. palliAGED has evidence-based learning resources available for free to support your team in caring for older persons at the end of life and their families.

To make it even easier to access these we have brought these resources together to make them easier to find and to share.

Our new Practice Resources page now connects you to the following resources:

• Practice Tips for Careworkers
• Practice Tips for Nurses
• Online modules for nurses
• Forms for your practice (downloadable)
• Order form for Practice Tip booklets.

Our project partner CareSearch will launch its new portal on 21 September 2021. Join the virtual launch to learn how the portal was built and how it will support patients, families, health professionals, and communities to make informed decisions.

Hosted by CareSearch Director Professor Jennifer Tieman, the launch will feature the following speakers: 

• Judith Leeson AM
• Ms Helena Kyriazopoulos, CEO, Multicultural Communities Council of SA
• Professor Leeroy William, President, Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine
• Professor Virginia Lewis, Research Chair, Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing
• Dr Katrina Erny-Albrecht, Senior Research Fellow, CareSearch.

The palliAGED Introduction Modules for aged care nurses have been well-received by the aged care sector. Covering 10 essential topics, the evidence-based modules provide an easy way for nurses to get started in palliative care or to refresh your understanding of care concepts. Email us if you would like to add the modules to your organisation's LMS. You can also read the latest blog to see how others are using the modules.

palliAGED has a list of information and resources to support our aged care workforce in providing palliative care and care at the end of life during this COVID-19 pandemic. Links to resources regarding vaccination, self-care, and caring for the dying and seriously ill are among those listed and are particularly useful for aged care staff in affected areas in New South Wales and Queensland.

Printed copies of our Practice Tip Sheets for Aged Careworkers and Nurses are available to order for free. Covering 37 commonly encountered issues such as supporting patients with advanced dementia, talking about end of life, and recognising deterioration, the tip sheets been reviewed by experts in aged care, palliative care, and evidence.

Based on the palliAGED Practice Tip Sheets and covering 10 essential topics, the evidence-based palliAGED modules provide an easy way to get started in palliative care or to refresh your understanding of care concepts. The online companion Introduction Module Manual is also freely available. If you would like to add the modules to your organisation's LMS, email us to find out more.

The palliAGED introductory modules covering 10 palliative care topics were released in May 2021 and have already generated a lot of interest within the aged care sector. To date seven organisations have asked to add the modules to their local Learning Management System (LMS) for staff training.

We have also received hundreds of responses to the quality improvement questions within the modules and these show that the aged care workforce is keen to learn and ready to take on skills in palliative care. All modules are freely available on our website. If you would like to add these to your LMS contact us at palliAGED.