The PEACH palliative care program has enabled people with a life-limiting illness to live well right to the end, and has gained plenty of positive attention for South Western Sydney Local Health District.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
SWSLHD Palliative Care Manager Janeane Harlum said the highly tailored program supports this year’s theme for National Palliative Care Week by enabling more people to fulfil their wish of dying at home with access to patient centred care.
PEACH or Palliative Extended and Care Home program aims to support palliative care clients in the last days of their life in their own home.
“The PEACH Program includes personal care during the day, a visit from an evening registered nurse and video support with a night nurse as [the patient] reaches the end of their life,” said Ms Harlum.
“Our staff work in partnership with a patient’s GP and community nurses,” she said.
The time may come in a person's life when the focus turns from cure to comfort which Ms Harlum said is why volunteers are such an important part of the patient journey.
“Not only do palliative care volunteers provide support and companionship to patients and their carers, they also provide a link between healthcare professionals,” she said.
The District has joined the Agency for Clinical Innovation and Western Sydney University lead researcher Dr Ann Dadich in a study to promote brilliance in evidence-based palliative care.
The purpose of this partnership is to initiate a conversation about death and dying.
“We are collaborating with clinicians to determine conditions associated with providing extraordinary care for people with life threating conditions and their carers,” Dr Dadich said.
Through the use of video, Dr Dadich said the study aimed to understand the elements of palliative care that exceeds expectation and brings delight during what might otherwise be a difficult situation.
“As part of the study, a number of clinicians, patients, and family members have graciously permitted my colleagues and I to video-record clinical interactions; clinicians then watch and analyse these recordings to identify the conditions that make their care brilliant,” Dr Dadich said.
“Analysing the footage enables the clinicians to reflect on what they do, how they do it, and why they do it.”
To become a PEACH volunteer visit http://www.swslhd.nsw.gov.au/cancer/pallcareVolunteer.html, or for more informatiiona bout PEACh palliative care, visit http://www.swslhd.nsw.gov.au/peach/.
