A10-A A Good Enough Death?

Abstract

The aim of the project is to provide those in New South Wales who wish to die at home the opportunity to do so and to understand whether this opportunity contributes to a good enough death. Surveys consistently show that up to three-quarters of Australians would prefer to die at home. The local reality has been very different - only 16% of people living in Australia with a terminal illness die at home The Palliative Care Home Support Program is addressing this end-of-life care gap with three strategies:1.The provision of end-of-life packages for up to 48 hours of specialised supportive palliative home-based care, day or night, provided by community workers specifically trained for the task, and working as part of existing specialist palliative care multidisciplinary teams.2.The provision of state-wide access to two collaborative education programs: one to train and up-skill the supportive palliative community care workers; and one delivered interactively from HammondCare’s University-linked Clinical Training Centres in collaboration with community professionals working in end-of-life care, including GPs, nurses, allied health and welfare staff, supporting care provision in people’s homes.3.Evaluation of quality and outcomes of service provision and their impact on bereavement and hope and independent evaluation of the educational programs. After almost three years, 78% of the people taking up palliative care home support packages have died at home. Evaluations show that this is a supportive and effective program as judged by patients, family carers and professionals. We have designed and implemented a program covering three quarters of NSW which has significantly improved the opportunity for people in the terminal or deteriorating phase of their illness to die at home.