ISSUE 5 • October 2014

The Decision Assist Project Update is a bimonthly summary of key news and

events from the Decision Assist program. Funded by the Australian Government,

Decision Assist aims to build capacity, linkages and access to palliative care and

advance care planning services for older Australians by providing support and

education to GPs and aged care providers.

• Palliative care phone

service now available

• FREE aged care

workshops

• Register for training

• Advance care

planning education

for GPs

Welcome

The Decision Assist program

continues to forge ahead, with the

phone advisory services now fully

operational, a range of workshops

being rolled out nationally and the

linkages projects soon to be unveiled.

Lots of good feedback is being

received about the range of support

and services provided, which is

particularly positive as the program

isn’t officially launched until later this

month.

Read on to find out more about ‘what’s

new’ and how you can get involved!

02

If you would like to attend the launch,

or obtain a launch information pack,

please email the Events team at

Palliative Care Australia:

Events@palliativecare.org.au

Official launch event

An event to officially mark the launch

of Decision Assist is now being

planned in Canberra for 28 October

2014.

Leaders in politics, health and the

aged care sectors are being invited to

attend the event, which will showcase

all the Decision Assist projects and the

ways they are working to improve

access to quality advance care

planning and palliative care for older

Australians.

It will also be an important networking

opportunity for anyone interested in

advance care planning and palliative

care, and for those who want to find

out directly from the project leaders

about how Decision Assist can help

and support people working in the

industry.

“The launch will

showcase all the

Decision Assist

projects and how

they are working to

support people in

the industry”

October 2014

03

The online learning content covers the

theory of advance care planning and a

palliative approach to care. Separate

workshops will be held for residential

aged care staff and for Home Care

Packages staff working in the

community.

Those who complete the course will

be accredited with 13 hours of

Continuing Professional Development.

For more information about the

workshops, call the aged care training

line on (03) 9088 1252.

FREE aged care workshops

Good news for all aged care staff –

the Decision Assist workshops on

advance care planning and palliative

care are now being offered for free, so

people are encouraged to register

quickly for a workshop in their local

area to avoid disappointment.

The aged care workshops page on the

Decision Assist website –

www.decisionassist.org.au – features

all the information about when and

where they will be held in each state

and territory, with more than 350

planned at locations all around

Australia before the end of next year.

Participants will be required to

complete online learning modules and

attend two face to face workshops

held 2 months apart.

October 2014

04

People with palliative care needs

beyond those that can be provided by

generalist services deserve access to

appropriate expert level care. Advice

and support are not subject to

registration with a specialist service.

This phone service is available to all

GPs and aged care staff working in

residential or aged community care

services right around Australia.

To date, callers to the palliative care

service have inquired about

resources and services in their local

areas, medication advice and

symptom management. The service

also offers advice related to

psychosocial and bereavement

support, as well as information about

education and training resources.

Phone Decision Assist for advice

now!

We are pleased to announce that the

setup of the Decision Assist phone

advisory service project is now

complete, with both the palliative care

and the advance care planning advice

lines fully operational.

The specialist Palliative Care Phone

Advisory Service has been operating

since 1 September 2014, with St

Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne awarded

the tender following a national

invitation for expressions of interest.

The team at Decision Assist is pleased

to have St Vincent’s on board, since

they are a major provider of palliative

care to patients across Victoria and

regarded as a national leader in

palliative care research, education and

training.

The phone service is available 24

hours a day, 7 days a week by calling

1300 668 908.

Information and advice is provided by

palliative care registered nurses for

the cost of a local call, regardless of

where calls are made. Specialist

palliative care doctors are available for

consultation when required.

October 2014

05

Advance care planning advice is also

available on the same phone number

– 1300 668 908 – with experienced

health professionals taking calls from

8am until 8pm daily.

Registered nurses provide a range of

assistance, from how to initiate

advance care planning conversations,

setting up a case conference, where

to find appropriate advance care

planning documents for your state or

territory, how to implement advance

care planning into your facility,

information on health professional

education and training, and

information regarding the different

state and territories legislation.

The line has been operating since

July, with the number of calls steadily

increasing as the program gains

recognition across the aged care

sector.

Staff who have participated in the

Decision Assist Aged Care Training

Workshops have found it particularly

useful for follow up advice.

All calls to the phone advisory

services are treated confidentially,

and comply with a strict privacy

policy that can be viewed on the

website www.decisionassist.org.au

Also visit the website for further

information about how the phone

advisory services can help you in

your role and your organisation, or

alternatively telephone 1300 668 908

now.

“Both the

advance care

planning and the

palliative care

phone lines are

now fully

operational”

October 2014

06

Linkages assessments

The assessment process for the

Linkages grant applications is now

underway, with the successful

applicants and their project details

expected to be announced later this

month.

More than 30 applications were

received nationally from a diverse

range of organisations with proposals

that aim to enhance linkages between

aged care and palliative care service

providers.

The grants of up to $80,000 each are

intended to support improvements in

palliative care for those aged over 65

years, or over 50 years for Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander people. The

Linkages project is a key component

of Decision Assist, because it provides

important opportunities to better link

and coordinate multidisciplinary care

and to support staff and carers in their

roles.

The linkages projects are expected

to produce a range of benefits,

including improved communication

between all involved in a person’s

care, better understanding of the

various roles of different service

providers to promote service

provision that is consistent with a

person’s specific wishes, and a

reduction in unnecessary hospital

admissions.

The aim is that the newly developed

linkages will create a more

supportive care environment to

ensure all health professionals and

care workers are well equipped to

deliver this service.

October 2014

07

GP workshops

The Decision Assist GP workshops for

improving end of life care are being

positively received around the country,

with recent workshops held for the

Australian and New Zealand Society

for Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM), the

Brisbane Palliative Care Medical

Interest Group, the Australian Practice

Nurses Association in Canberra and

the national RACGP conference -

GP14 - in Adelaide.

GPs and GP registrars can register

now for upcoming events, including

workshops planned for Rural Medicine

Australia 2014 in Sydney on

1 November, the Healthed Conference

in Adelaide on 1 November, the

General Practitioner Conference and

Exhibition in Melbourne from 14-16

November, and at Fifty Shades of

Pain – Queensland Pain and Palliative

Care conference in Brisbane from 3-5

December.

Full details are on the Decision Assist

website – www.decisionassist.org.au –

with links to registrations for each

event.

In September, a joint Decision Assist

workshop for GPs, including advance

care planning and palliative care, was

held at the Australian Medical

Educators Network (AMEN)

conference in Brisbane.

This workshop introduced the GP

component of Decision Assist to GP

medical educators from across

Australia.

This means that, potentially, all GP

registrars can receive training about

the advantages of Decision Assist,

both for GPs themselves and for their

provision of care for all older

Australians.

This would allow for 100% reach of

Decision Assist to the emerging GPs

of the future.

Advance care planning education for

GPs is currently being developed and

will be available in 2015.

“GPs can

register now for

upcoming

events”

October 2014

08

Website

New webpages are now available on

the Decision Assist website –

www.decisionassist.org.au – to help

health professionals support people

with specific advance care planning

and palliative care needs.

Located in the Resources Section of

the website, by clicking on the

‘Specific Needs’ hyperlink, a wealth of

information is available to guide

professionals assisting Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people; culturally

and linguistically diverse (CALD)

communities; as well as people who

identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual,

transgender and intersex (GLBTI).

In addition, specific information is

provided to help staff dealing with

people who have dementia, those

living in rural and remote areas, and

those seeking guidance on spirituality

and faith.

It includes best practice advice for

providing appropriate care to these

groups, as well as policy and

management considerations and

reputable sources of information and

research outcomes for further learning

and support.

So, whether you are looking for

information on how cultural

differences may affect a person’s end

of life care wishes, how Decision

Assist can support ethnically diverse

communities, how to include

Australians of diverse sexual

orientation in the advance care

planning and palliative care

processes, tips on overcoming the

geographical challenges that Australia

poses, or caring for people of different

religions, then the Decision Assist

website can help you.

Many of the resources are posted

online so they are easy to view and

download.

Also, don’t forget to add the Decision

Assist website –

www.decisionassist.org.au - to your

favourites bar, so you can easily

access all the latest announcements

and developments associated with the

program at the click of a button.

October 2014

“Pull quote it abori delit re dellantio illorpo

reperunt laccull aboritatur the aute.

Decision Assist is a $15 million project funded by the Australian Government as part of

the Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package. Decision Assist aims to build

capacity, linkages and access to palliative care and advance care planning services for

older Australians by providing support and education to GPs and aged care providers. It is

being implemented by a consortium of leading national health, aged care, and academic

organisations including Austin Health, Palliative Care Australia, Flinders University, the

University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, the Australian and New

Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine, Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), and Aged

and Community Services Australia (ACSA).

Information contained in this publication may be reproduced in health and aged care

publications, with the permission of the Decision Assist Project team.

conference for General Practice in

Adelaide.

For further information about participation

in these workshops, contact Dr Karen

Cooper at ANZSPM via email.

Associate Professor Jennifer Tieman will

also give a presentation on Decision

Assist at the ACSA National Conference in

Adelaide on 8 and 9 September 2014.

Conferences and Events

Decision Assist palliative care workshops

will be conducted at the following upcoming

conferences.

• 2-5 September at the ANZSPM

Conference on the Gold Coast

• 12-14 September the GPCE Conference

in Brisbane

• 9-11 October at GP14 – The RACGP

08

For further information, please contact Rachel Hawes:

p (02) 6163 8404

e rachel@palliativecare.org.au

www.decisionassist.org.au

Click to subscribe or unsubscribe to Decision Assist Project News.

09

older Australians, and not the

residents or clients living in the

community, A/Prof Tieman explained

that the benefits will ultimately flow to

older Australians.

By improving staff confidence,

competence and access to

knowledge, the quality of care

provided will improve.

Aged care staff were encouraged to

get involved with the program by

telling work colleagues about it, by

signing up for a newsletter, visiting the

website, attending a workshop, or

calling the phone line when they need

advice.

Help spread the word

The Decision Assist communications

team has been busy producing a

range of communications materials to

help spread the word about the range

of Decision Assist projects and these

are now hot off the press!

PDFs are posted on the website if you

would like to download copies, or

alternatively contact the

communications team by emailing

Rachel@palliativecare.org.au

Also, look out for Decision Assist

advertisements in Australian Ageing

Agenda, Aged Care Insite, Fusion

Magazine and at the LASA National

Congress from 20-22 October.

October 2014

Conferences and events

In September 2014, A/Prof Jennifer

Tieman spoke at the ACSA

conference in Adelaide. Her

presentation was titled ‘Decision

Assist: What’s in it for aged care

providers, staff and residents/clients

on the ground?’

The presentation featured an

overview of the program and the

expertise behind it, and detailed its

potential benefits in the community.

Although the focus of Decision Assist

is to help those providing care to

If you are attending the Congress,

remember to come and say ‘hello’ to

our staff; they will be stationed in the

LASA Lounge during the event to

answer all your Decision Assist

questions.

Project Update December 2014

The next edition of the Decision Assist Project Update will be issued in December 2014.

Contributions and updates are most welcome. Please contact the program

communications officer, Rachel Hawes, by emailing Rachel@palliativecare.org.au or by

telephoning 02 6163 8404.

Decision Assist is a multifaceted program funded by the Australian Government, which aims to build

capacity, linkages and access to palliative care and advance care planning services for older Australians,

by providing support and education to general practitioners and aged care staff. It is being implemented

by a consortium of leading national health, aged care, and academic organisations including Austin

Health, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM), Flinders University,

Palliative Care Australia (PCA), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the University of

Queensland (UQ), Leading Age Services Australia (LASA), and Aged and Community Services Australia

(ACSA).

Information contained in this publication may be reproduced in health and aged care publications,

with the permission of the Decision Assist program team.

Contact Rachel Hawes

p (02) 6163 8404

e rachel@palliativecare.org.au

www.decisionassist.org.au

• The General Practitioner

Conference and Exhibition on 14

November in Melbourne

• Fifty Shades of Pain – Queensland

Pain and Palliative Care

conference on 3-5 December in

Brisbane.

Conferences and events (cont.)

Look out for Decision Assist at the

following upcoming industry events:

• The LASA National Congress from

20-22 October in Adelaide

• Rural Medicine Australia 2014 on

1 November in Sydney

• The Healthed Conference on

1 November in Adelaide

10 October 2014