Palliverse

This time last year I was finishing up 10 weeks of travel on my Churchill Fellowship! Next week I’m presenting some of the findings in a free webinar.

If anyone is interested in dementia, palliative care or aged care you can join the webinar “People with dementia deserve better - exploring models of palliative care for people with dementia” next Tuesday 14/11 at 3pm WA time (12pm AEDT). It will also be recorded and put on the WAHealth YouTube channel at a later date I am told

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WA Palli-peeps!

We have extended the nominations deadline for the Palliative Care in WA Awards 2023 sponsored by Silverchain to Friday 15 September.

There has never been a better time for us to celebrate and showcase the professionalism, dedication, innovation and teamwork shown everyday by those professional and volunteers who care for Western Australians who are at end-of-life.

For more details on how to nominate an outstanding professional, volunteer, team or organisation involved in delivering palliative care in WA visit: https://palliativecarewa.asn.au/updates/palliative-care-in-wa-awards-2023-nominations-now-open/

Palliative care physician and PCA Chair, Professor Meera Agar shares her work and wisdom tonight on SBS INSIGHT.

“I always laugh because, as a palliative care clinician I have to go for my annual resuscitation training,” she told Insight.

“We all have our CPR training up to date, but there's no annual communication training.

“The thing that I do in my day-to-day work every day, with every person, is communicate.”

Whether you are a health professional or not, talking about death and dying is hard, but so important. Start the conversation tonight (May 30) at 8:30pm with Meera on SBS Australia or later on SBS On Demand.

More 👉🏼 http://ow.ly/QIlm50OyLi7

It’s been a wonderful start to the for and ….

Leesa’s healing garden has won “Runner Up” Best Show Garden for 2023!!

Thank you to all the Lionheart volunteers who helped to create this beautiful space and bring Leesa’s concept to life and to the generous supporters who have donated or loaned all the elements to create this garden - and Eclipse Soils.

Come see us at site 103 over the next three days and experience the peace, calm and tranquility of this award winning garden.

Friday essay: love in the time of incontinence – why young people don't have the monopoly on love, or even s*x

This goes out to health workers, who in the face of chaos made my mum’s death peaceful | Kim Davies These remarkable people have been through hell in recent years to help others. Let’s not take them for granted

“Guastella joined CHU as a palliative care physician in 2003 and learned how much more there was to give patients beyond pain medication: care, time, conversation, little treats. She cites the French expression les carottes sont cuites (“the carrots are cooked”). It means nothing more can be done. For Guastella, the carrots are never cooked. “In palliative care, there is always something to offer,” she says.”

Why this French hospital serves dying patients wine and caviar Should hospitals add wine bars for dying patients? One palliative care unit in south-central France is using neurological research to do something of the like.

We have 6 free online Introduction to Advance Care Planning workshops scheduled over the coming months.

Advance care planning is all about working out what we want and then making plans for our future care, lifestyle, health and finances. It ensures we get a say in what happens in the last part of our lives.

It’s important to start advance care planning EARLY in life when you can speak and decide for yourself. For the dates, details and registration links go to https://palliativecarewa.asn.au/free-online-community-workshops/

‘I had the last hug’: palliative care workers lament the good deaths Covid took away Last wishes have gone unfulfilled, families been kept distant – the pandemic has made death a lonely experience. For carers, it’s underlined the value of a good death

The annual Carer Wellbeing Survey is open. If you are a carer, or have been a carer, this is your chance to have your say about your experiences and increase the understanding of what carers need.

This information is used by Carers Australia to better support their work advocating for carers across Australia, and by the Department of Social Services to inform their delivery of services to carers. Go to: https://uoc.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2nTx9BCcVNw0A1E

Palliative Care Australia is asking for expressions of interest from expert clinicians from a range of backgrounds to join its Clinical Consulting Panel.

The panel will advise on future policy and position statements, provide clinical advice and represent Palliative Care Australia at various forums. They are looking for clinicians from the following fields:
• General practice and primary care
• Nursing
• Allied Health including psychosocial services
• Pharmacy and/or opioid medication research
• Specialist Palliative Care medicine
• Other medical specialties such as oncology, respiratory and cardiology
• Aged care

To find out more and apply go to https://palliativecare.org.au/eoi-clinical-consultants-pca-clinical-consulting-panel/

New from the blog:

Palace of Care – Lockdown Locks and Roadblocks Photo by Mirza Babic on Unsplash You really need a haircut. Yeah, lockdown hair. I usually look different, like in my ID photo, I have a nose and a mouth under my mask. So what do you want? I’m her…

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I think therefore I am? – My Toe Con Dryer? Photo by Braňo on Unsplash Here’s a short story that I have shared with children of various ages who are losing or have lost their mothers. Prior to Medical School I completed a Biochemistry degree…

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Bedside Lessons – What Daisy saw. Photo by Alejandro Ortiz on Unsplash Hi everyone, This was the result of a writing experiment in which I re-examined the case discussed in from the point of view of a fictional 7 year old grand-dau…

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I think therefore I am? – Clarification Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash The following are my own personal professional views and do not represent those of my employer or of Palliverse in general. I’m not interested in debating the p…

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Introducing Bedside Lessons – What isn’t done, isn’t done. Photo by noosha ghodsizad on Unsplash It’s ironic that I am writing on a daily basis now when I barely paid attention in English classes and did not even do English in my last year at high school. …

New from the blog:

I think therefore I am? – It’s down to you now, you wanna be free?* From Cliff Richard’s We don’t talk anymore: Photo by billow926 on Unsplash In Aotearoa/New Zealand the End of Life Choice Act 2019 will be enacted into law on Sunday 7th November 2021. …

New research published in The Medical Journal of Australia has found that too many Australians are missing out on the benefits of palliative care due to misconceptions that it is exclusively about death and dying.

The study results showed that palliative care is more than you think, and we need to get the message out so more people can receive the care they deserve.

Palliative care is:

☑️ focused on quality of life of the patient and their family (including bereavement);

☑️ delivered by a suitably qualified multidisciplinary team;

☑️ holistic in nature (physical, emotional, existential and social);

☑️ available to people of all ages and across a range of diagnoses or illnesses; and

☑️ delivered across multiple care sites, including hospital, home and residential aged care.

The study found that when palliative care is effectively delivered, it can restore choice for care in serious illness, improve a sense of control and independence, and provide peace of mind that patients and families cherish.

When patients and families are aware of palliative care’s core activities, they are keen to take it up. And when health care professionals are aware they more likely to make it available earlier in the diagnosis.

To facilitate engagement with palliative care, the researchers developed four key messages that will assist health professionals describe palliative care concepts to patients, family carers and the community:

🗨️ Palliative care is centred around you.

🗨️ Palliative care enables you to be prepared.

🗨️ Everyone deserves palliative care.

🗨️ Palliative care is creative.

Reframing palliative care so more people understand what it is and its benefits, will help bring us much closer to the goal of standardised, high-quality care for all people facing serious illness, and their families

▶️ Read the full study: http://ow.ly/anjh50GCVOV

▶️ Visit the Palliative Care It's More Than You Think campaign website: http://ow.ly/RjLj50GCVOW

New from the blog:

I think therefore I am? – It’s so funny how we don’t talk anymore St Joseph’s Hospice was founded in 1967 by Cicely Saunders in order to help cancer patients for whom medicine had nothing else to offer. Often these patients would suffer from the effects of …

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Bedside Lessons – 6. Week Two – A hard promise to keep Photo by Oliver Roos on Unsplash A week later and I had to keep my promise, to prove that they were not just empty words. Thursday I’m sorry that things are changing so quickly, that you are losing…

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Cancer patients can’t believe everything they read 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 artic…

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Bedside Lessons – 5. Here’s the deal – Week One Photo by David Cain on Unsplash Thursday I want you to be really honest with me, has the pain relief worked? Yeah, I think it has, I’m moving better. I had four hours of sleep last night which is p…

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Bedside Lessons – 4. The Father Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash The old Chinese man was admitted with uncontrolled pain and breathing distress. His wife and son doted upon him and were worried about him as he had been rapidly…

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Bedside Lessons – 3. The Distrusting Maori Fella Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash “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 …

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Bedside Lessons – 2. The Grandma Photo by Rommel Davila on Unsplash “Are you going to help me, or are you going to keep blocking me?” She had spent weeks on our ward with pain in her upper right abdomen. This was caused by m…

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Bedside Lessons – 1. The Magyar Photo by Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash When we met, I had just started my second year of specialist training in Palliative Medicine. I was keen to use my new-found skills and knowledge in the hos…

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Palace of Care – Don’t be afraid to show you care Photo by michael weir on Unsplash He had loved cricket since he was a kid, had played it into early adulthood, but became a spectator once his own kids arrived. Whenever there was a Black Caps game…