Great Southern Compassionate Communities

Regional WA’s palliative care professionals, volunteers and service providers shone brightly at the WA Palliative Care Awards 2019 the winners of which were announced at a gala dinner on Saturday 25 May.

Albany Community Hospice’s Ingrid Plug won the outstanding professional award and Maureen Beattie from the Derby Aboriginal Health Service was runner up.

Albany Community Hospice’s Alison Phipps took out award for Outstanding Volunteer with Pam Minchin (also from the Albany Community Hospice) being the runner up.

Busselton Hospice Care Inc took out the Outstanding Organisation Award.

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists.

When you start talking about dying and death a common question that regularly arises is “so what does dying actually look like?”.

If you’d like to find out we suggest that you check out this Palliative Care WA’s publication which gives clear information about the dying process (https://palliativecarewa.asn.au/resources/the-dying-process-2/).

Another option is to read the article from the ABC journalist Bianca Nogrady (https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2017-05-26/what-to-expect-when-someone-is-dying/8550490).

Both of these documents can be found under the “Carers Resources” section of the Toolkit on this page. Here you will also find links to a wide range of other highly informative resources that can help you and your family prepare for the inevitable.

So, you have received the worst news imaginable – you or a loved one has a terminal illness. How do you cope with news that you, or a loved one, is dying?

The Cancer Council has extensive experience in helping people deal with this situation and has prepared a useful guide that answers such questions as:

• how do I work out how long I have left?
• how do I have as good a death as possible?
• how, and when, should I tell my loved ones?
• where can I get help if I live by myself?
• who can help me deal with my spiritual or emotional concerns?
• what paperwork do I need to deal with?

While the focus of the guide is on people with a terminal cancer diagnosis it really is applicable for anyone that is facing a life limiting condition.

We don’t have to wait until we are dealing with a terminal diagnosis to take a look at the information. Why don’t you take the time now to inform yourself (and your social circle) so that we are all better prepared if, and when, the time comes.

To dowload a copy of the brochure follow this link: https://www.cancercouncil.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/UC-Pub-Facing-End-of-Life-CAN4407-lo-res-March-2017.pdf

Check out the “Facing End of Life” link on the “Planning Ahead Resources” section of the Toolkit on this page. Here you will also find links to a wide range of other highly informative resources that can help you and your family plan for the inevitable.

Albany's Death Cafe is in its sixth year of existence and is still going strong so its interesting to see this ABC article from Canberra about the benefits of increasing community literacy about death through death cafes... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-21/cappuccino-cremation-conversation-would-you-visit-death-cafe/11033430

Have you ever wondered what happens at a Death Cafe? If so, why not come along to the Albany Death Cafe which meets on the last Friday of every month at 2 pm - 4 pm in the back room of the Three Anchors at Middleton Beach. Order yourself a coffee at the counter and join the group for a chat about any aspect of death, dying and grief that interests or intrigues you. All welcome.

If you are looking for a Death Cafe outside of Albany check out this website

https://deathcafe.com/c/Australia/

The Great Southern team has partnered with the City of Albany on an innovative Compassionate Communities project under the umbrella of the national "Greater Choice for At Home Palliative Care Measure". An important component of this initiative is raising community awareness and encouraging community dialogue about death, dying and loss. In a clear demonstration of the City's commitment to this important subject the City of Albany named Kate Thomas, co-founder of Albany's Death Cafe, as its Citizen of the Year at this year's Australia Day celebrations.

Kate, who is a recently retired nurse and funeral celebrant, co-founded the Death Cafe five years ago with Irene Montefiore. Since then they have facilitated monthly get-togethers for people who want to discuss death, dying and grief. Importantly, through this work Kate is an advocate for advance care planning which the Compassionate Communities project is championing.

When putting together the EOI to the Department of Health for the Greater Choice in At Home Palliative Care Measure, Lesley Pearson, Great Southern Regional Manager approached Dennis Wellington, Mayor of the City of Albany to partner in the project. Gaining this commitment from the Mayor from the outset of the project has allowed co-design and co-ownership of the project to the extent that a Compassionate Communities project team member is co-located at the City of Albany. A senior City of Albany Executive sits on the Compassionate Communities Steering Committee and the City is, among other things, developing a range of community engagement activities focused on death, dying and grief through its community services teams. Annmaree Lynch, the Compassionate Communities Project Officer at the City of Albany, has engaged with all levels of the organisation to raise awareness of the project. Recently City of Albany Councillors and staff have completed surveys to provide baseline information on their awareness of, and comfort levels with, end of life matters including advance care planning which will be used to inform future initiatives.

Given that Annmaree only commenced at the City of Albany at the end of May 2018 it is impressive that the City has taken on board its community ambassadorial role for the project so emphatically. By naming Kate as Albany's Citizen of the Year specifically for her Death Cafe work the City of Albany has publicly reinforced its commitment to bringing the taboo topic of death and dying into the public arena.

As a result of the project there is broader community awareness of the Death Cafe and the importance of dialogue about end of life matters including advance care planning as well as greater awareness among City of Albany Councillors and staff about end of life matters and the importance of broadening community supports for people at the end of life and those caring for them.

WA Primary Health Alliance is also funding the development of an Aged Friendly Charter within the City of Albany. The Charter will be guided by the King's Fund paper "Making our health and care systems fit for an ageing population". Through this collaboration with the City of Albany, WA Primary Health Alliance is better able to engage with community and consumers as well as providers to understand and meet the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged people. The overall objective is to ensure the delivery of the right services, at the right time in the right place.

The Australian Government Department of Health has just released an updated National Palliative Care Strategy which has been welcomed by the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM)..

ANZSPM President, Professor Meera Agar, said: “The national strategy is an important acknowledgement of the critical role of palliative care services across Australia supporting people with a life limiting illness. ANZSPM is pleased that the updated strategy demonstrates the combined commitment of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments to working together to ensure equitable palliative care for all people with a life limiting illness as well as their families and carers.”

The strategy sets out a shared direction for palliative care services across Australia having regard to the following six guiding principles:

• Palliative care is person-centred care
• Death is a part of life
• Carers are valued and receive the care they need
• Care is accessible
• Everyone has a role to play in palliative care
• Care is high quality and evidence-based.

WA Primary Health Alliance is working to improve access to safe, quality palliative care at home through a Compassionate Communities project. Compassionate Communities is an international public health project the aim of which is to engage broad community support for people approaching the end of their lives.

This survey aims to gather information to understand how our community, including our workplaces, support each other through times of dying, death and loss and how we are discussing and planning for our future care needs.

We know for many this may be a confronting topic to be talking about, however it is an important subject which we will all have to face eventually. The information you share will help inform future community awareness campaigns.

The survey should only take two minutes to complete and your response will be anonymous.

To access the survey click on this link: End-of-Life-Awareness-Survey

The Compassionate Communities Toolkit (see side panel) has been collated to allow easy access to a wide range of information about end of life matters in Australia, with a key focus on services and information that is most pertinent to Western Australian communities.

Whether you are looking for local palliative care services to help you care for someone who is very ill or grieving, or are an aged care service provider who is looking for specific information about looking after palliative care patients or are just generally interested in the Compassionate Communities movement the Toolkit will provide links to an array of information to meet your needs.

The Toolkit will be regularly updated as new information becomes available and we welcome feedback on its contents. In particular if you become aware of any additional information that would be helpful to share it would be most appreciated if you could email Christine.Grogan@wapha.org.au.