Caregivers play an immensely vital role in the lives of their loved ones. Self-care is important to build physical and mental stamina for the long haul.
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How family dynamics can disrupt your loved one’s end of life goals
For many in the last stage of life, a hospital is the safest place to spend their final days. For others, however, it can be avoided. According to a recent article in the Medical Journal of Australia, family dynamics often leads to treatments and hospitalisation that’s non-beneficial. Ken Hillman, intensive care clinician, professor of intensive care at the University of New South Wales and Violet clinical committee member, says about 70% of Australians want to die at home or in a home-like setting, yet only 14% get to do so. Hillman believes part of addressing this discrepancy requires the sick
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Bringing palliative care to developing countries through the multi-region Lien Collaborative for Palliative Care Programme
Dr Gilbert Fan recalled visiting a patient’s home in the slums in Bangladesh back in 2018. The walkway was so narrow that even a stretcher was unable to get through. He vividly remembered the poor living conditions of the closely packed huts, the muddy road that led to the main road, and a 1-hour drive just to reach the nearest hospital. This experience further strengthened his belief that all patients should have equal access to healthcare. Training the local healthcare and social workers on how to communicate with patient’s family members Dr Gilbert Fan, Master Medical Social Worker at the
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Reframing palliative care to improve the quality of life of people diagnosed with a serious illness
An approach for reframing palliative care has been designed to help improve the wellbeing of people with serious illness Most Australians can expect to die as the result of a chronic illness. The Lancet Commission on palliative care and pain relief estimated that annually, more than 61 million people experience chronic health conditions associated with suffering that could be significantly ameliorated through palliative care.1 Given the increasing incidence of chronic illness, the role of palliative care, including its availability earlier in the course of an illness, will become increasingly prominent in health care across the world.1,2,3 Modern palliative care, originally framed as “hospice
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Collaboration between St John Ambulance and Otago Hospice sees substantial reduction in palliative patients admitted to ED
NEW ZEALAND – In the last two years, many vulnerable palliative patients have avoided emergency department (ED) admissions with the introduction of a collaboration between Otago Community Hospice and St John Ambulance in Dunedin.
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Virtual reality helping palliative care patients
NEW ZEALAND – A PROJECT pursuing better health outcomes for palliative care patients using virtual reality (VR) technology is an exciting prospect, according to Hawke’s Bay District Health Board.
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Violet’s 5 Questions: A deep dive into deep conversations
In this series, we invite people to unravel a high stakes or “tender” conversation that has stayed with them by answering 5 key questions on how it went. Violet’s 5 questions are co-designed by best-selling author and palliative care physician, Dr Kathryn Mannix and can be used to inform anyone’s reflective practice around important conversations, no matter the context. Episode 1: Dr Kathryn Mannix We open the podcast by welcoming co-creator of Violet’s 5 Questions, Dr Kathryn Mannix. A palliative care physician who has had her fair share of daunting conversations, shares a personal conversation with us about grief, and what
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Making Connections
Palliative Care is about making connections. The connection between a person affected by a life-limiting illness and a palliative care practitioner that facilitates healing. 20 years ago, the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network was formed, through the inspiration of Dr Shigeaki Hinohara from Japan.
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Reaching out with warmth
Project Happy Apples extended virtual befriending to St. Andrew’s Community Hospital palliative patients. * * * SINGAPORE – During this challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Andrew’s Community Hospital (SACH) and Project Happy Apples (PHA) bonded together, journeying with SACH palliative care patients and their loved ones. Started in 2012 by students from the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, PHA aims to empower future doctors and prepare society for end-of-life care, by making a positive impact on medical students, the general public, and patients receiving palliative care through their initiatives.
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Ending Well: The Urgent Case for Accessible Palliative Care
Whether the cause is COVID-19 or something else, death is inevitable for all of us. A good death, however, is not. In spite of the care, expertise, and knowledge now available, bad deaths are unfortunately all too common for many New Zealanders. Palliative care is an important ingredient for good end of life care—even when the person has complex medical issues or has struggled with significant pain. It is an approach that “prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual.” Studies have shown that palliative care
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