Caring for the dying
While medical research that is keeping people alive much longer attracts considerable publicity, less is known about the great advances being made in ways of caring for people who are dying, the Australian Government Minister for Ageing, Julie Bishop, said today.
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12 September 2005
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While medical research that is keeping people alive much longer attracts considerable publicity, less is known about the great advances being made in ways of caring for people who are dying, the Australian Government Minister for Ageing, Julie Bishop, said today.
Launching a series of palliative care workshops to be held in rural, regional and metropolitan areas across Australia, Ms Bishop said palliative care covers all stages of life, including children, adolescents, young adults as well as people in the older age groups, and is needed by people from various backgrounds.
"The benefits of palliative care are not just limited to the final days and weeks of life. It can be relevant to managing symptoms in many clinical situations and can assist in making care decisions early in the course of life-limiting illnesses," Ms Bishop said.
The Australian Government has provided $2 million for the palliative care workshops which are designed to assist staff in residential aged care facilities to implement the Guidelines for a Palliative Approach in Residential Aged Care, the first of their kind in the world. The guidelines aim to improve the quality of life for people with a terminal illness and their families.
"These workshops help ensure those guidelines don’t just sit on the shelf - but that they are used to improve care - and ensure the philosophy of palliative care will become a sustainable model of good practice in our nursing homes," Ms Bishop said.
Palliative Care Australia is working in collaboration and partnership with the aged care sector and peak organisations to deliver these workshops. They will be delivered around the country between September 2005 and February 2006.
The Australian Government committed $55 million over four years in the 2002 Federal Budget for national activities to support improvements in the standard of palliative care offered in local communities.
In addition to this funding, the Australian Government also made available a total of $201.2 million throughout the five years of the Australian Health Care Agreements (2003-2008) for palliative care.
Media contact: Kay McNiece 0412 132 585
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