Palliative Care Resources

As a palliative care health professional education provider, we often come across some useful resources. Below are some curated palliative and end of life care services, and education providers and resources which may help enhance and support your palliative care practice and/or education. 

General Resources.

Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement
The Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement (ACGB) is an independent, not for profit organisation which is the largest provider of grief and bereavement education in Australia.

Department of Health End of Life Care Program

The establishment of this specific team demonstrates the high priority that the West Australian Government places on end-of-life and palliative care. The team has the following specific responsibilities for implementation of initiatives and legislation related to: end-of-life and palliative care, advance care planning and the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2019.

Palliative Care WA 
Palliative Care WA is a member-based, not-for-profit organisation who works for the community and with the palliative care, aged care and community services sectors to ensure access to quality palliative care services for all Western Australians.

The CareSearch Project
The CareSearch Project provides access to evidence and trustworthy resources in palliative care for health professionals, people needing palliative care and their families, and for the general community.

Palliative Care Curriculum for Undergraduates 

The PCC4U project aims to improve the skill and confidence of the health workforce to work with people with palliative care needs by promoting the integration of palliative care training within all health undergraduate, entry-to-practice, and relevant post-graduate curricula.

Palliative Care Australia 
Palliative Care Australia represents all those who work towards high quality palliative care for all Australians. Working closely with consumers, our Member Organisations and the palliative care workforce, we aim to improve access to, and promote the need for, palliative care.

A Guide to Specialist Palliative Care and Referral Criteria 

Once a patient has been diagnosed with a life-limiting condition or their death is expected, you should consider whether referral to specialist palliative care is appropriate and if so, the service they should be referred to. This page provides guidance on referral criteria, specialist palliative care services and providers and examples of palliative care scenarios.

What is Palliative Care - Cancer Council South Australia 

An excellent resource created by Cancer Council South Australia that provides a clear understanding of Palliative Care.

CarerHelp: What to do if the person I am caring for says they want to die?

This factsheet addresses what to do if the person you are caring for says they want to die. It also explains what Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) legislation is, in case the person you are caring for raises this

Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia provides access to a wide range of cancer resources on our Publications and resources library, including consumer information, clinical guidance, data reports, fact sheets and more.

Cancer Australia is moving to a new process of providing digital copies only of resources on from mid-September 2020.Resources can be downloaded free of charge for individual use, reference or for printing.

National Palliative Care Projects Hub

The National Palliative Care Projects are funded by the Department of Health and Aged Care. They work towards improving quality and access to critical support and treatment for people with life-limiting illnesses and their loved ones.

Whether you’re a healthcare professional, a researcher, a carer, or someone living with a life-limiting illness – there’s something for you in the Hub.

Lionheart's Raw to Roar program

Lionheart Camp for Kids (Lionheart), a WA based not-for-profit organisation working with grieving children and teens (5 to 17 years) and their families, has a new support program. Raw to Roar: Lionheart’s Grief Pathway, is designed to help families experiencing palliative care and bereavement.

CarerHelp -  LGBTIQ+ Resources

There is a diversity of LGBTIQ+ life journeys, history, experience, and perspectives. This means that their carers can have unmet information needs.

CarerHelp has put together some resources that people who are LGBTIQ+, carers caring for someone who is LGBTIQ+ or support workers supporting LGBTIQ+ patients may find useful.

Advance care planning documentation flow chart for WA

Caring@home

The caring@home project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care and led by the Brisbane South Palliative Care Collaborative.

This project aims to improve the quality of palliative care service delivery for all Australians by developing resources to support carers and families to help manage end-of-life symptoms for a person at home.    

caring@home resources are applicable Australia-wide for clinical services, health professionals and carers/families. 

Opioid Conversion Education Department of Health & PaSCE 

WA Department of Health, End of Life Care Program and PaSCE have developed these education videos to support the Opioid Conversion Guide lanyard. These 15-minute education videos must be viewed prior to ordering the lanyards.
This resource has been developed and presented by Penelope Tuffin, an Advanced Practice Pharmacist. Penny provides advice, education and mentoring for healthcare professionals and undergraduate students throughout Western Australia.

This short video series educates health professionals on opioid conversion and how to use the opioid conversion lanyard. WA Department of Health, End of Life Care Program and Palliative and Supportive Care Education developed these videos to support the use of the Opioid Conversion Guide Lanyard, they must be viewed before ordering.  

Once the videos are completed, a certificate can be downloaded. Contact ACP@health.wa.gov.au with the certificate to order your lanyard.  

Disclaimer: Content is correct at time of filming. All rights reserved by Penelope Tuffin and Cancer Council Western Australia.

Communications Skills for Healthcare Professionals 

Palliative and Supportive Care Education (PaSCE), Cancer Council WA, are very excited to announce the launch of the new Communication Skills Education Videos for Health Professionals.
These case-based scenario training resources were designed in response to the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic and an increasing demand for communication skills education. They have been produced in collaboration with clinicians practicing in acute care, community and aged care sectors.

The videos provide opportunity for health professionals to observe different types of conversations held between clinicians and patients, family members and/or carers regarding goals of patient care, advance care planning and end-of-life discussions.

Please note that this is a communication education resource, it is not a guide to clinical treatment and was not filmed in clinical settings.
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A PaSCE collaboration with the Yiriman Project 

This educational video resource is made for health professionals working with Aboriginal people, especially those originating from the West Kimberley region and was developed in collaboration with the Yiriman Project.

This resource is for educational purposes only. It may contain images, works and descriptions that could be culturally sensitive and which might not normally be used in public and community contexts.

Cancer Council WA acknowledges the Yawuru people as the Traditional Custodians of the land where this resource was filmed. We would also like to pay respect to the elders past, present and emerging and offer our acknowledgement and respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were involved in the development of this resource. 
If you have utilised this video resource, please complete our five minute evaluation survey. Your feedback will enable us to ensure we are continually improving the effectiveness of our resources. 

Spotlight on Pharmacological Interventions for Palliative Care Symptoms 

Presented by: Penelope Tuffin, Advanced Practice Pharmacist, Palliative Care and Pain Management for personal Professional Development or use as an education resource.

Concerns over managing challenging symptoms can be alleviated with appropriate knowledge and support. A palliative perspective will be applied to the most common palliative care symptoms to give a broad overview.

Each video looks at the pharmacological intervention specific to each symptom from an Advance Practice Pharmacist; palliative care and pain management specialist point of view. It recognises the importance of non-pharmacological interventions either prior and/or in addition to medications. 

TOPICS.
  1. Medications at end of life 
  2. Pain management in palliative care
  3. Nausea and vomiting in palliative care
  4. Dyspnoea in palliative care
  5. Delirium in palliative care
  6. Constipation in palliative care


LEARNING OUTCOMES.
  1. Identify the most common palliative care symptoms.
  2. Determine the appropriate pharmacological intervention required to manage each symptom. 
  3. Demonstrate a palliative approach through prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of the most common palliative care symptoms. 


For further information contact Jess.park@cancerwa.asn.au