“Inspirational” and “eye-opening” are just some of the words South West Healthcare’s Andrea Janes used to describe an international palliative care conference she attended this month.
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Mrs Janes said she came away from the three-day Australian Palliative Care Conference, which finished on Friday, with new ideas she could introduce to the South Western Regional Palliative Care (SWRPC) service in her role as team nurse consultant co-ordinator.
“I’ve got lots of little things that we can do differently that will make a big difference,” Mrs Janes said.
“There are small things we can implement that are easy that can make our care even greater and not just in the community but in hospital as well.”
There were 870 delegates at the Connection with Community conference as well as international presenters who spoke about the latest research, clinical trials and best practice.
She said the conference covered the “whole spectrum of the life span” requiring palliative care, including paediatric patients.
Mrs Janes said patients who were being referred locally were getting younger, with many battling cancer.
She said the presentations were eye-opening, with topics including ‘A good death for all – what would it take?’ and ‘Mourning, grieving, healing and hope’.
“There’s so many great projects and research and innovations out there that you don’t know about unless you come to something like this,” Mrs Janes said.
A highlight was hearing from chef and media personality Maggie Beer, who works with aged care facilities through her foundation, who spoke about the importance of food and taste up to the end of life and easy changes that can be made.
At the conference Mrs Janes presented information as part of a 100 poster display which highlighted how the SWRPC service had grown in the past 12 months. Sourcing and training an extra 32 palliative care volunteers in the Corangamite Shire has led to a 166 per cent increase in service provision.
“SWRPC provides community palliative care services to 85 patients, 80 carers and 110 bereaved families living in the 9,998 square kilometres that make up the local government areas of Corangamite, Moyne and Warrnambool City,” she said.
Breaking down the stigma and creating a greater understanding about palliative care was a priority, Mrs Janes explained.
“It’s not only end of life (care),” she said.
“It’s the last 12 months for anyone with a life-limiting illness and how we can help them.”