What is palliative care in aged care?

How long do you have palliative care for?

Starting palliative care depends on where is a person is with their illness. Some people don’t require palliative care as soon as they receive their diagnosis, while others do.

People can have palliative care for many years and often receive medical treatment for their illness alongside palliative care. When a person reaches the end of their life, that’s when a person starts receiving end of life care.

What does palliative care in residential aged care look like?

Palliative care services can be provided in a range of settings including in a person’s home, a hospital, a hospice or a residential aged care facility.

If you are choosing an aged care centre for a loved one, you may want to consider asking about the palliative care programs offered as part of the services provided at the aged care providers' centre, or if there's a palliative care unit.

Specialist palliative care programs in residential aged care are designed to enhance the quality of life of a resident living with a serious illness and help them maintain their independence, while also supporting their family. Palliative care is provided in addition to any specialised care required at the care centre.

Specially-trained aged care services staff provide a palliative care program featuring clinical care, including wound and pain management, personal care, comfort care and sensory experiences while ensuring family and friends get to spend quality time with their loved one, with support from staff.

An example of a specialist palliative care program is IRT's Namaste program, which is part of our Journey of Care model. Trained IRT staff integrate sensory stimulation into care delivery using therapeutic touch, aromatherapy, music and sensory experiences.

Founded on the power of loving touch, some of the benefits of our Namaste program include:

• A relaxed and fulfilling environment
• Reduced need for medication
• Decreased pain
• Fewer incidents of aggression
• Increased social interaction

Who provides palliative care services?

A multidisciplinary team of medical, specialist nursing staff and allied health professionals will provide palliative care services, whether the person is at home, in hospital or at a residential aged care facility.

The team is trained to help and support a person living with a serious illness to manage their symptoms and needs, and may include nurses, doctors (like a specialist palliative care doctor) and specialists, social workers, physiotherapists, psychologists and counsellors, and trained volunteers.

What do nurses do in palliative care?

Nurses are often a key part of the multidisciplinary team who support a person living with a serious illness and receiving palliative care. They assess, plan and administer daily treatment and manage a person’s symptoms. Nurses provide support to a person with a life-limiting illness and the people closest to them. This is to ensure the person’s wishes are respected and quality of life is managed according to their preferences for care and support.

What quality of life is there in palliative care?

The effectiveness of palliative care is proven. Multiple clinical trials have demonstrated the benefits of accessing care for people living with a serious illness. Research shows that people with a serious cancer who access palliative care soon after their diagnosis, alongside their recommended cancer treatments, have better outcomes. Patients feel better, have fewer symptoms, are happier and overall have a better quality of life. There is also growing evidence to show people receiving palliative care live longer.

As a result, palliative care services reduce the need for crisis hospitalisations, which are not only difficult for patients and families, but costly too. Palliative care allows people to remain safely in their homes and communities, is better for patients, and reduces pressures on the health care system.

With an ageing population and an increased life expectancy for people over 85, palliative care in aged care is becoming increasingly important in improving the lives of older Australians. Rather than just being available for a person approaching the end of their life, palliative care provides an added layer of long-term support for people with a serious illness at the same time as clinical treatment, providing them with comfort and connection when it's needed most.

Your state or territory department of health can provide additional resources on palliative care services for people living with a life-limiting illness and their families and carers.

What to expect with palliative care?

The focus of palliative care is to help a person with a life-limiting illness to have a good quality of life. Palliative care is focused on the person and their other family members and is a type of specialist care which provides care and treatment.

A person receiving palliative care would expect to receive care that’s based on their individual needs and receive care from many different health professionals, including aged care workers, social workers and psychologists.

How does palliative care improve quality of life?

Having a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to caring for a person with a life-limiting illness, is at the heart of palliative care. It allows people to receive care in their own home, including a residential aged care home, hospital or hospice, which is often a great comfort and can help with a person's quality of life.

And having the support and nursing care that palliative care provides for a person’s loved ones means families and friends are well supported to navigate this journey together.