Amin Bahrami
1Department For Health and Wellbeing, Adelaide, Australia
Biography:
Mohammad Amin Bahrani has earned his PhD in Health Services Management from Iran University of Medical Sciences and has completed several professional fellowships, including Educational Scholarship and Leadership (2021), Medical Education (2020), and E-Learning (2019). Since 2007, he has held academic and administrative positions at Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences (2010–2018) and Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (2018–2024). In 2024, he relocated to Adelaide, South Australia and joined the End-of-Life Care team at SA Health.
Abstract:
Background:
This study analysed data from individuals living in outer-regional areas who accessed Palliative Care Connect (PCC), a palliative care navigation service in South Australia.
Methods:
Demographic and service delivery data were collected from palliative patients who accessed PCC. Navigation-specific data, reasons for contacting the service, main supports provided, and the outcomes achieved (as reported by Navigators) were collected for each episode of care delivered to individuals living in outer regional areas. Descriptive statistics, independent samples T-Tests, and Chi-square test were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 30.
Results:
Data from 124 outer regional patients were analysed. The mean age of the cohort was 72.11 ± 13.19 years. Of the patients, 78 (62.9%) were living with family, 32 (25.8%) were living alone, and for 7 (5.6%) patients the living arrangement data was missing. The remainder were living in residential aged care facilities (2.4%), with friends (1.6%), in supported accommodation (0.8%), or were homeless (0.8%). For most patients (85.8%), the initial contact (check-in) with the service was made by themselves or their family members. At check-in, most of the patients (58.9%) were in stable phase according to the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) phases, followed by unstable phase (18.5%), and deteriorating phase (15.3%). The most frequent reasons for which patients contacted the service were: navigating the health care system, carer support, coordination of community services, access to palliative care services, home-based care coordination, and psychosocial/emotional support. The main outcomes achieved were patient empowerment and informed decision making, access to support services, advance care planning, improved care coordination, timely access to services, enhanced symptom management, and facilitation of home-based care, as reported by the PCC Navigators.
Conclusion:
Findings highlight the important role of palliative care navigation programs in improving access, care coordination, and support for patients in outer regional areas.
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