Abstract
There is an inconsistent provision of palliative and end-of-life (palliative) care across Australia, particularly in regional, rural and remote areas. Systematic solutions can help to address identified gaps and improve access to and quality of care and support for patients, their families and carers at the end of life. The Far West New South Wales (NSW) Palliative and End of Life Model of Care is a systematic solution for a rural and remote palliative approach to care. The model enables a consistent and contextually adaptable, patient-focused palliative approach to care so that everyone receives the care they need from appropriately skilled and informed clinicians, in a timely manner, and as close to home as possible. A narrative report used literature and internal documents as well as the perspective and experience of key informants involved in establishing the Far West NSW Palliative and End of Life Model of Care. This narrative report aims to describe the design, development and function of the model, and to identify the essential elements to implement or maintain the model elsewhere. The model was developed by the Specialist Palliative Care Service in the remotely situated Far West Local Health District of NSW. The Far West NSW Palliative and End of Life Model of Care was designed to guide a palliative approach to care in the last year of life, through death and into bereavement, regardless of age, diagnosis, culture, location or provider. The model functionally provides the scaffolding for locally and contextually relevant components of a quality palliative approach to care in consideration of a person's wishes. There are three essential elements to the development, maintenance and further implementation of the model and a palliative approach elsewhere. Until recently, the model relied on paper-based documents and resources; it is now available online. It has the potential to enable a consistent, yet contextually adaptable, patient-focused palliative approach to care.
Highlights
There is an inconsistent provision of palliative and end-of-life care across Australia, in regional, rural and remote areas
The model was developed in the Far West Local Health District (FWLHD), which serves about 30 000 people, more than 12% of whom identify as Aboriginal
The provision of palliative care in Australia is variable and, in contrast to many remote regions, a specialist palliative care service (SPCS) has been operating throughout the FWLHD since 1989, providing access to 24-hour palliative care, education and collaboration with generalist providers[25]
Summary
There is an inconsistent provision of palliative and end-of-life (palliative) care across Australia, in regional, rural and remote areas. The Far West New South Wales (NSW) Palliative and End of Life Model of Care is a systematic solution for a rural and remote palliative approach to care.
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