Category Archives: Ideas

Special guest post – Dr Chris Sanderson on #lettertome

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Dear readers,

We are honoured to bring you a guest post, in fact two, and indeed we hope more, from the fabulous Dr Chris Sanderson, palliative care physician.  I have to say that I was so inspired by this idea, by putting patients at the centre of our communication, where they should be, that I totally stole this idea for my own Change Day pledge.

Below is part one of her description of her pledge for Change Day, #lettertome.

#lettertome : A twitter campaign to improve how we share information with patients.

Social media is such a wonderful space for spreading ideas – and sometimes the simplest ideas may convey a world of significance. Recently on twitter, there was a conversation between various doctors and patient advocates about how we speak to and about our patients, and the subject of doctors’ letters was raised. Thus was born a new hashtag, a pledge for Change Day Australia, and potentially a new way of doing things.

Continue reading →

Abstracts for Palliative Care Australia conference are open!

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And this year it’s sunny Melbourne for the PCA conference. Abstracts are open, and close 13th April.

https://www.etouches.com/ehome/112617/Abstracts/

Palliative Care: Fit for the Future
1 – 4 September 2015, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

What will the future look like?

Who is part of our future?

How do we get ready for the future in palliative care?

(E-Hanging out with the team at Palliverse is an excellent start!)

Posters will be electronic only which is neat.

I have a couple of ideas already…. planning to submit anything?

Sonia

Hospice New Zealand Palliative Care Lecture Series 2015

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Hospice NZ PC lecture series 2015

Hospice New Zealand is once again presenting a lecture series on palliative care this year. The lectures are held on the first Thursday of every month at 7:30am NZDT/NZST and are available by teleconference at various sites across New Zealand. The first lecture on nausea and vomiting was delivered last week by Dr Michael Downing.

You can also listen to lectures from the previous series by simply registering here. Awesome!

Reflections on research – a week of firsts

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This is the first in a regular series of posts by Palliverse team members about their day-to-day experiences in research roles.

This week was a week of firsts for me. For the first time as a doctor, I am in a role that is primarily non-clinical. On Monday, I commenced a 1-year research fellowship based in theDepartment of Palliative Care at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, Western Australia. It is also the first time I will be in the same position for a whole year (training terms for junior doctors generally ranging from 10 weeks to 6 months duration in WA). It’s the first job I’ve had where it’s my responsibility to set my own schedule, without the routine of ward rounds, clinics, home visits and consult referrals. It’s my first time working at this hospital – in fact, Monday was the first day at this hospital for most of our team. It is a brand new facility. The Emergency Department saw its first ever patient on Tuesday. More patients will be transferred from another hospital over the weekend. Our palliative care team (doctors, nurses and social worker) have come together from various services, care settings and states. It’s a great opportunity for us to learn from each other and so far it’s functioning very well. There is a fantastic energy at this new hospital – all the staff I’ve encountered are enthusiastic about change (for the better) and it is a great opportunity to get things done without the burden of “that’s how we’ve always done it” thinking. Continue reading →

Palace of Care – After the moment

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Currently… you look so sad.
Currently… you look so mad.
Currently… you look so bewildered.
Currently… you look so disempowered.
Currently… you look so past your best.
Currently… you look so, ‘the worst of the rest.’
Currently… you look so useless.
Currently… you look so hopeless.
Previously…we; were friends.

James

Elsewhere in the Palliverse: Weekend Reads

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Hi and welcome to the first “Elsewhere in the Palliverse” for 2015. There is an (unintentional) geriatric flavour to this week’s links. This is possibly because today marks the end of a six-month geriatrics rotation for me, or maybe because another year has ended and birthday has passed. Regardless, I hope that Palliverse readers enjoy the following links:

Dementia researchers Muireann Irish and Rebekah Ahmed give their take on the new film adaptation of Still Alice, a novel about a 50 year old woman who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Have you read the book? Will you see the movie? (Still Alice: A rare look at how dementia steals memories from millions – The Conversation)

Professor Rod McLeod gives some background on his article in this month’s European Journal of Palliative Care, ‘Making it easier to die at home – an innovative programme in New South Wales, Australia’. (Making it easier to die at home – EAPC Blog)

Continue reading →

Social media – find of the day

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Admittedly it’s early in the day…. but here’s my find of the day.

The Palliative Review by @kpedmonds  just floated across my Twitter feed.

http://paper.li/kpedmonds/1394491140

It’s got a STACK of good reading, from utility of thickened fluids in dysphagia to a thoughtful piece on palliative research priorities. You can subscribe to receive emails of this compendium. This is an example of something I think have talked about before, “curation”, when someone does all the hard work and collects the good stuff for you.

Enjoy!  Sonia

A Tour of the Teams: ImPaCCT

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Happy New(ish) Year everyone!

To celebrate we are starting a new segment.  It goes without saying that many people and groups around our region are doing wonderful and exciting work in palliative care research but it can feel a little lonely out there for many of us.  Finding support to develop your idea, and others with a similar interest can be a challenge.  In addition to the palliverse researcher database we thought another way for us all to feel connected was to start to get to know the more established players.  So let’s start with some introductions.  We have been contacting the various academic and research institutions working in palliative research in our region asking them to tell us a little bit about themselves.  “Tour of the teams” will be an ongoing series to bring the responses from these units together.

Unfortunately an actual "tour" was voted as impractical

An actual “tour” was unfortunately deemed impractical

We hope that the “Tour” will help us all be a little more connected and maybe to give us all some ideas of where we can get help to develop that great research idea that we have been sitting on.

The service who gets the gold star for being first off the mark is the ImPaCCT group

Continue reading →

Self-care: Is it selfish?

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Did you work over the holiday break?

Unlike many times in the past – this year I didn’t work a shift on Christmas Eve; or Christmas day, or even New Years. I spent this time with my family. And I turned off my electronic gadgets (well, for the most part)!

I spent quiet time reading. How refreshing it was to have no agenda, and nothing that just had to be done. The only trouble was that, somehow, this felt quite indulgent.

After all, we are trained to care for others – but perhaps not so enlightened on the art of self-care. Is it selfish? Or does genuine care for others perhaps start with yourself? Continue reading →

How to rock the boat without falling out – interested in Change?

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For this week’s social media post we visit The Edge and the change and innovation folks from the NHS in the UK. The School for Health and Care Radicals is running a free online course. Here’s what they say about it below…..

Rock the boat and stay in it! Anyone who wants to bring about change has to be ready to break the rules. But in health and social care, that can be really difficult. The art of rocking the boat while staying in it is something it seems no-one is ready to help you learn. That’s where the School for Health and Care Radicals (SHCR) comes in. Brought to you by NHS Improving Quality, the School is entirely based online, is completely free, is backed by the world’s largest health organisation: the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), and is a platform for radicals to learn together, using powerful, guided learning which also qualifies for Continuing Professional Development points*.

The School for Health and Care Radicals is a free, five-week virtual learning programme for change activists in health and care. Five modules Absolutely free 9.30am-11.00am GMT Friday morning online sessions (or catch-up when you’re able) Handbook and study guides Social Guided Learning Use it how you want! If you’ve been frustrated by having to navigate stifling hierarchies to get the changes you know are needed, or criticised for being a dissenter, disruptive or even divisive, then the School for Health and Care Radicals is for you. It’s more than just a school – it’s a platform for learning, and a community of people like you. You can read more about the School on our FAQs page. –

See more at: http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/9022.aspx#sthash.aphbFb9p.dpuf

I am joining up so I hope to see you there. It’s a good time for south eastern Australia, at 20:30 on a Friday night, but I understand that you can do it at any time. The Edge also publishes an e-newsletter which is free – heaps of interesting and inspiring reading there from thinkers and leaders in health. The Edge makes connections between people worldwide who are interested in transformational change and disruptive innovation in health and care. http://theedge.nhsiq.nhs.uk

Cheers, Sonia