There are several challenges that present in the people with palliative care needs.
The following resources may be useful in understanding and responding to these.
General palliative care resources:
- CareSearch
Provides access to evidence to inform best practice in palliative care across the life course. Includes evidence summaries on clinical topics, and information and resources for health professionals and the broader community.
- ELDAC
Provides information, guidance, and resources to health professionals and aged care workers to support palliative care and advance care planning to improve the care of older Australians.
- palliAGED
An online evidence-based guidance and knowledge resource about palliative care in aged care for use by health professionals and the aged care workforce. Replaces the Guidelines for a Palliative Approach in Residential Aged Care (APRAC) and the Guidelines for a Palliative Approach for Aged Care in the Community Setting (COMPAC).
- Scottish Palliative Care Guidelines
Reflect a consensus about good practice in the management of adults with life-limiting illness.
- Tasmanian Palliative Care Formulary
Australian resource for healthcare professionals who care for adults requiring palliative care.
- Therapeutic Guidelines: Palliative Care (subscription required)
Provides advice from expert clinicians on a range of practical palliative care issues, including symptom management, communication guidance and support for deprescribing.
General dosing guides:
- Australian Medicines Handbook
Evidence-based independent medicines reference in an Australian context.
- MIMS Online has information on medications including guidance on those suitable for crushing where people have difficulty swallowing or have an enteral feeding tube in place (subscription required).
- Scottish Palliative Care Guidelines
Reflect a consensus about good practice in the management of adults with life-limiting illness.
- Tasmanian Palliative Care Formulary
Australian resource for healthcare professionals who care for adults requiring palliative care.
Last days of life:
- Anticipatory prescribing
- Opioid Conversion calculators:
- CareSearchgp App
Smartphone app designed to help GPs support people with palliative needs living at home or in residential care. It includes terminal prescribing advice. Useful for prescribers and pharmacists.
- palliAGED symptoms and medicines pages.
- palliMEDS.
Developed by NPS MedicineWise for caring@home, familiarises primary care prescribers with eight palliative care medicines that have been endorsed by the Australian & New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM) for management of terminal symptoms. Also includes an opioid calculator tool.
- The National Core Community Palliative Care Medicines List (536kb pdf): Four medicines for use by home-based palliative patients in the terminal phase who require urgent symptom relief
- Syringe driver compatibility
Medicine management Tools:
Guidance in palliative care:
Articles:
- Curtin D, Gallagher P, O'Mahony D. Deprescribing in older people approaching end-of-life: development and validation of STOPPFrail version 2. Age Ageing. 2021 Feb 26;50(2):465-471. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaa159.
- Gallagher P, Ryan C, Byrne S, Kennedy J, O'Mahony D. STOPP (Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions) and START (Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment). Consensus validation. Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2008 Feb;46(2):72-83. doi: 10.5414/cpp46072.
- Lavan AH, Gallagher P, Parsons C, O'Mahony D. STOPPFrail (Screening Tool of Older Persons Prescriptions in Frail adults with limited life expectancy): consensus validation. Age Ageing. 2017 Jul 1;46(4):600-607. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afx005.
- Liacos M, Page AT, Etherton-Beer C. Deprescribing in older people. Aust Prescr 2020;43:114-20. doi: 10.18773/austprescr.2020.033.
- Pruskowski J, Handler SM. The DE-PHARM Project: A Pharmacist-Driven Deprescribing Initiative in a Nursing Facility. Consult Pharm. 2017 Aug 1;32(8):468-478. doi: 10.4140/TCP.n.2017.468.
- Scott IA, Hilmer SN, Reeve E, Potter K, Le Couteur D, Rigby D, et al. Reducing inappropriate polypharmacy: the process of deprescribing. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 May;175(5):827-34. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.0324.
- Tait P, Chakraborty A, Tieman J. The Roles and Responsibilities of Community Pharmacists Supporting Older People with Palliative Care Needs: A Rapid Review of the Literature. Pharmacy (Basel). 2020 Aug 12;8(3):143. doi: 10.3390/pharmacy8030143.
Education:
Videos:
Page updated 20 September 2024