The Rural and Remote Institute of Palliative Medicine (RRIPM) has released a draft of the proceedings of their Round Table Workshop held last month in Canberra. Participants included consumers and community advocates, clinicians and managers, college and peak body leaders, as well as state and federal government representatives.
Recommendations from the workshop will guide implementation of the next phase of the RRIPM project:
Maintain independence, with clearly defined roles and expectations when working in partnership across participating organisations
Advocate for the establishment of a tri-partite group [RACP, RACGP and ACRRM] to strengthen training alignment
Launch a trial network across training ready locations
Consider proposed actions relating to education and training, leadership and governance, capacity building and relationships for implementation in Year 1 to Year 3
Seek guidance from the Office of the National Rural Health Commissioner, and other jurisdictional representatives to identify future funding sources
To receive regular updates on project progress please register your interest with the project team via email rripmproject@anzspm.org.au
This workshop is for General Practitioners based in Victoria (Australia) who care for people with a life-limiting illness. Practice Nurses are also welcome to attend.
Topics
• Recognising patients who need palliative care
• Communicating about end of life issues
• Voluntary assisted dying in Victoria
• Assessing and managing common symptoms
• Advance care planning
Facilitators:
Dr Rowan Hearn – Clinical Director Palliative Medicine, Calvary Health Care Bethlehem
Dr Rupert Strasser is a palliative care specialist and geriatrician, with Calvary Health Care Bethlehem. He is passionate about providing excellent clinical care for all. Rupert’s clinical interest includes palliative care for neurodegenerative disease.
PEPA is an accredited educator with RACGP (workshops are eligible for category 2 CPD points)
Date: Saturday 23rd July 2022
Time: 10am – 12pm
Online – a WebEx link and guidelines to access will be provided prior to the workshop date.
Workshop Pre-requisite:
To maximise learning PEPA offers 6 online GP learning modules. These modules have been developed by palliative care experts and reviewed by clinicians with extensive palliative care experience. They can be accessed by setting up an account at the PEPA Palliative Care Education and Training Collaborative: https://palliativecareeducation.com.au/
PEPA is an accredited educator with RACGP. Workshops are eligible for Category 2 CPD points
Inquiries:
PEPA Administration – E: pepa@svha.org.au
Margarita Makoutonina, Calvary Health Care Bethlehem
This discussion with Stacey Panozzo, Joanne Britto, Christine Hofmeyer and Avi Paluch reflect on opportunities for consumer and community involvement (CCI) in palliative care and share a new program of work that seeks to explore, develop and implement a program to enhance CCI in palliative care in Australia.
The purpose of the Palliative Care Research Network (PCRN) is to foster the evolution of collaborative scholarly inquiry in #palliativecare in Australia. The PCRN is leading a program of research that focuses on consumer engagement, which seeks to enhance consumer and community involvement in palliative care. Learn more about the PCRN here: https://pcrnv.com.au/
In her short videos she explains things that we commonly see in end of life care.
Julie McFadden’s engaging videos have gone viral. Awesome!
How else could social media help us in terms of palliative care promotion?
How can we use these platforms for good?
How can we extend our reach further?
Who else can we help to extend their reach?
How can we help our friends and colleagues in other less developed places provide palliative care better?
Many of us around the world, myself included, did not feel at all prepared by health care school curricula which continue to lack palliative care education.
Personally, in my spare time, I am working on a freely downloadable “Dummies Guide to Palliative Care” book aimed at newbie health care practitioners. Contents to include: Did you know there are five main symptoms when people are dying? Here’s how to identify them, and treat them…
Please let me know if you are keen to contribute, as doing it by myself might take longer than if I had some helpers.
The stream of information about cancer treatments and cures can be overwhelming. Articles in the media such as the Guardian describe new miracle cures. It’s hard to know what to believe. This article is a good example of how media interpretations of scientific papers can be misleading for patients and families.
“Why do you ask that?” “Why are you all staring at me?” “What do you want me to say?” “Are you trying to team up against me?” “Are you here to interrogate me?”
He did not know us, did not trust us, he looked at us suspiciously. He had been fobbed off by the other doctors, over months. He had presented to hospital a number of times with back pain but had left each time feeling totally disregarded. Institutional racism and inequity led to unfortunately common inaction. He felt treated as if he was, “a lazy Maori trying to skive off work.” He had always worked hard, his whole life. He was proud of having always supported his family well. Just as he had experienced his entire life, they didn’t try to know him at all and made the usual assumptions. Research tells of differential treatment that is still leading to Maori people in general dying seven years earlier than the rest of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s population.
HammondCare is looking for a post-doctoral researcher, who has a passion for research which can improve palliative and supportive care. Working within the Centre for Learning & Research in Palliative Care, the Research Fellow provides high level support for the research effort in palliative & supportive care across the organisation.
This role offers a post-doctoral researcher an excellent opportunity to develop their research skills, experience and track record within the themes of palliative and supportive care.
Position based at Pallister House, Greenwich Hospital.
Part time (0.6 FTE), flexible working arrangements. Three years fixed term position.
Provide high level support for research in palliative and supportive care
For enquiries please contact Prof Josephine Clayton, Director, Centre for Learning & Research in Palliative Care, HammondCare on jclayton@hammond.com.au
Palliverse founder Dr James Jap has made some recent appearances in two non-palliative care websites. James was interviewed by NZ actress/writer Michelle Langstone writing for NZ’s The Spinoff.
After reading this article Australian writer Aimee Chan asked James to be interviewed on her Kids Pod podcast.
Click on the following hyperlinks if you fancy a read or a quick listen:
Delirium is a favourite topic of ours at Palliverse – it is experienced by many people with palliative care needs, including at the end of life, and is often distressing to the person, their loved ones and health professionals providing care. Despite this, it remains poorly recognised, underdiagnosed and poorly treated – not least because the evidence base is still growing.
They have suggested some Actions to Take on #WDD2017. I’ve listed them below & with some thoughts on how to take action.
Commit to using the term ‘delirium’
If you hear someone using terms like “agitated”, “restless”, “aggressive” or “pleasantly confused”, think – could this be delirium? I use the term delirium, document it and make sure it’s communicated in the medical record and letters. Recognising and diagnosing delirium allows us to educate patients and their loved ones, as well as providing the best delirium care possible.
Screen your patients for delirium
People at risk of delirium, who should be screened, include those with serious illness, those aged over 65 years and those with underlying cognitive impairment. This includes many of the people cared for by palliative care services! The diagnosis of delirium may be missed, delayed or misdiagnosed without screening, as signs may be subtle (especially in hypoactive delirium). There are multiple simple bedside screening tests for delirium, and although not all these have been validated in the specialist palliative care setting, they are still useful. The 4AT is a freely available screening tool that can be administered by any health professional and does not require training.
Listen to patient and family stories about the experience of delirium
What may seem “pleasantly confused” to staff members can be very distressing for the delirious person and their families. Being agitated, aggressive or “just not themselves” can be distressing for patients and families to witness – it is important to acknowledge these emotions and provide education about delirium. (See “Michael’s Story: the fear on his face was palpable” for a wife’s experience of her husband’s undiagnosed delirium.)
Engage your leadership in a discussion of delirium
If the above isn’t enough to convince your leadership to take note, delirium also increases the risk of health care complications like falls, pressure injuries, prolonged length of stay, and mortality. For those in Australia, World Delirium Day is a great time to introduce your leadership to the recently released Delirium Clinical Care Standard (which we’ve covered here before).
Educate health professionals about delirium
Delirium does not “belong” to just one group of health professionals or one specialty. It’s common, especially in palliative care, and important for us all to know about it. Some of my favourite educational resources are freely available at the Scottish Delirium Association, plus this 5-minute video from UK-based Delirium Champion Dr MS Krishnan. (I’ve shared this before but it’s worth sharing again!)
As a final bid to raise awareness, you can participate in a #WDD2017 Thunderclap via your Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr account, to alert your friends and followers to the importance of delirium.
Here is a copy of my slides from the Keynote presentation that I made on 16/09/16 at the Hospice New Zealand 2016 Conference.
I was intentionally being provocative and I was purposefully trying to challenge the audience’s mindset with the material that I presented, as I believe that New Zealand Hospice/Palliative Care needs to be “shaken up,” if it is to remain relevant. Now it’s your turn, you have been warned…
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
I am working on a version which will have clickable links, and also on a recorded live performance of the presentation. In the meantime the slides with comments have been loaded onto the Palliverse Instagram account.
palliverse.com 