#ANZSPM16 tweet chat: the (hidden) cost of caring

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A game changer at the recent Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative medicine 2016 Conference (#ANZSPM16) was Dr Merryn Gott’s plenary presentation on the hidden costs of caring. Little is known about the financial impact of caring for people at the end of life.

She detailed some powerful anecdotes, including the story of two sisters whose mother lay dying in a hospital. The cost of parking was prohibitive and the daughters took it in turns to sit in the car watching out for the parking inspector. When their mother died, only one of the daughters was there; the other was in the car. Continue reading

Art therapy for the palliative care clinician

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I had wanted to learn to paint for many years, and finally found the time to take some classes during my research fellowship year. It was really good fun and I loved it. Unfortunately, my fellowship year soon finished and clinical commitments meant I could no longer attend the classes.

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Nevertheless, I decided that I would keep painting, once a week (usually on a Wednesday), just for me. At the end of a busy day, it’s often easier to just slump on the couch and watch some TV. I’ll be honest, sometimes the couch wins. However, I do manage to drag myself out of the house again most Wednesdays, get myself down to the studio for a couple of ours of what I fancifully call my ‘art therapy’ before bed. And when I do, I never regret it.

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As you can see, I’m just a beginner and still have a lot to learn about painting. But I love losing myself in the work, just thinking about form and colour – anything other than patients and families and suffering and medicine, or audits or guidelines or research or presentations. I also love heading out and painting outdoors when I can get away.

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If you also like painting, or any other form of art – please join us for #PallANZ tweet chat on the 29th, which will be on the topic of “palliative care and the arts”! You can find the details here.

Upcoming #PEDPC #PallANZ Tweetchat

Palliative Care Needs of Children & Adolescents

This month, we are excited to explore how palliative care can help to support young people in our community living with serious illness! Our upcoming #PALLANZ tweetchat to be held at 7pm (AEST) on Thursday 30th June will discuss topics related to the palliative care needs of children and adolescents and their families. We will also be featuring some guest blogs from new Palliverse Contributors working with young people in Paediatric Palliative Care (#pedpc).

During our #PALLANZ tweetchat, we hope to bring together those interested to talk about how a kid’s #pedpc service can help young people with serious illness to live well; when a young person might meet the #pedpc team; and where they might like to receive care. We’ll also imagine we have a magic wand able to do anything we want to improve the available supports and share these ideas and other helpful resources!

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#NPCW16 #PallANZ Tweetchat: Living Well with Chronic Illness

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Join next week’s #PallANZ tweetchat on the topic of “Living Well with Chronic Illness”, the theme of Australia’s National Palliative Care Week (#NPCW16). Anyone with experience of living with life-limiting chronic illness, having a loved one with chronic illness, or working with people with chronic illness, is encouraged to participate. You don’t have to be Australian, and Twitter newbies are welcome!

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics show that most people who who access palliative care have cancer. However, palliative care can be of benefit to many people living with non-malignant diseases and chronic illness as well. These include dementia, heart disease, lung disease or kidney disease, to name a few. Many people could benefit from what palliative care can offer, such as management of pain and other symptoms, advance care planning for the end of life, and support for carers.

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#PALLANZ tweet chat: Palliative Care Yarning

PallANZ 201603 altPalliverse acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which we live, and we pay respect to Elders past and present. We also acknowledge the important contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to Australian society.

The delivery of high-quality, culturally sensitive and respectful palliative care services to Indigenous communities is critically important. In the Australian context, a recent press release from NACCHO highlights some of the key issues, including the need to partner with Indigenous communities to develop and implement culturally appropriate services.

In the spirit of respectful, inclusive communication and ongoing learning, we invite you to join us for an online “Palliative Care Yarning” tweet-chat on 31st March 2016. This tweet-chat will be an opportunity to discuss some key issues in palliative care for Indigenous and First Nation peoples, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

When? Thursday, 31st March 2016

  • 4:00pm AWST Perth
  • 5:30pm ACST Darwin
  • 6:00pm AEST Brisbane
  • 6:30pm ACDT Adelaide
  • 7:00pm AEDT Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart
  • 9:00pm Wellington, Auckland, Christchruch

What? Topics for discussion:

  • T1 What does high quality Indigenous palliative care mean to you?
  • T2 How can we improve equity in palliative care delivery to Indigenous communities across remote, regional and urban settings?
  • T3 How can existing services collaborate with Indigenous communities in palliative care? (eg training, advocacy, service delivery)
  • T4 How will the services of the future deliver high quality Indigenous palliative care?

As always, we ask that you include the topic tag (e.g. T1) in your response to each topic, and include the #PALLANZ hashtag in your response. As the #PALLANZ community is international, we respectfully encourage use of the term ‘Indigenous people’ where referring to Indigenous and First Nations people and communities from across the world during the tweet-chat. The @Palliverse moderator for this tweet-chat (@csinclair28) will be responsive to any specific requests or feedback from participants regarding appropriate and respectful language.

You don’t have to be an expert, a Twitter whiz, or even live in Australia or New Zealand to join – in fact, we strongly encourage those new to Twitter and from beyond our shores to join us and share your views!

For those new to Twitter check out our tutorial here.

Looking forward to talking soon.

#PallANZ tweet chat: Advance Care Planning

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Advance care planning is an important process that is increasingly being taken up by our community. When done well, it can help those with serious illnesses take control of their future health care. However, many people in our community still do not know about advance care planning, which means those who are likely to benefit from the process are missing out.

How can we do better?  Continue reading

Death and dying in the media

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Q&A. Love it or loath it, or maybe a bit of both. But there is no denying that it strikes a chord with a sizable portion of the Australian population who would perhaps rather not be watching A Current AffairToday Tonight or their new lovechild: The Verdict. Continue reading

#PallANZ tweet chat

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And we’re back for another round!

Following on from the highly successful inaugural #PallANZ tweet chat last month, we are delighted to announce that we will be hosting another tweet chat in November! Join team Palliverse (@Palliverse) and Liz Callaghan, CEO of Palliative Care Australia (@PCACEO), and “Let’s talk about death, baby!” Share your stories and reflections on having THE conversation with your family, friends, patient, doctor, nurse, spiritual counsellor…

Date: November 5th 2015

  • 7pm AEDT (Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart)
  • 6:30pm ACDT (Adelaide)
  • 6pm AEST (Brisbane)
  • 5:30pm ACST (Darwin)
  • 4pm AWST (Perth)
  • 9pm NZDT (Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch)
  • Other time zones 8am GMT, Hong Kong/Singapore 4pm

Hope to see you all there!