palliAGED updates

To explore the new resources, go to the Cognitive Impairment and Dementia pages in the palliAGED Evidence Centre and Practice Centre.

Palliative care of older people includes assessing and responding to cognitive issues such as confusion, delirium, dementia and/or communication difficulties. Dementia is likely the better-known. Cognitive Impairment and Dementia is the latest topic in the palliAGED Evidence Centre to be substantially updated and expanded this year.

Extensively researched, these pages draw from the latest evidence and evidence synthesis to support the aged care workforce. The companion Practice Centre pages offer assessment, screening tools, information for families and carers, training modules and other resources to improve your practice and your organisation’s practice.

Almost two thirds of adults over 80 years of age have three or more chronic diseases. Comorbidity and multimorbidity are common terms to describe this but have you ever wondered what the difference is between them? This topic in palliAGED’s Evidence Centre has now been substantially updated and expanded to explain this and the impact of multiple chronic conditions on care at the end of life. It provides wide-ranging and extensively researched evidence summaries to guide aged care practice in this area. The Practice Centre pages also provide practical resources and tools that staff can use to support older people in their care.

The 2nd editions of the palliAGED Practice Tips Sheets for nurses and careworkers are now here. Five new topics and new Next Steps pages, as well as new online versions with links to resources and tools, and improved accessibility for tablet and mobile devices, are now available. Read our blogs to learn more. 
You can order printed copies, view or download the booklets and individual sheets for free. Find Practice Tips for Careworkers and practice tips for Practice Tips for Nurses.

At the recent Palliative Care Nurses Australia 2022 conference, Dr. Katrina Erny-Albrecht introduced new palliAGED Practice Tip Sheets for nurses and careworkers, outlining the five new topics added and discussing how active listening and collaboration with the aged care sector has been critical to development of these popular resources. View the presentation slides here (2.88MB pdf).

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.