Dr Kristina Thomas1, Di Saward1, Mark Boughey1, Hudson Peter1,2, Jennifer Tieman3, Margaret Deerain4, Susanne Tegen4, Christopher Hall5
1St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Fitzroy, Australia, 2The University of Melbourne, Fitzroy, Australia, 3Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, 4National Rural Health Alliance, Canberra, Australia, 5Grief Australia, Mulgrave, Australia
Biography:
Dr Tina Thomas is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Palliative Care and has been involved in research related to the experience of family carers for over 15 years. She has a Doctorate in Psychology and is interested in how to prepare and support family members caring for someone at the end of life and into bereavement. Since 2017 she has been involved in the CarerHelp project funded by a National Palliative Care Project and develops resources for family carers.
Abstract:
Background: There are 7 million Australians living outside of major cities and these people have poorer health outcomes and poorer access to and use of primary health care services. The barriers to accessing end-of-life health care for rural Australians include geographical distance to services, lack of a stable workforce, and difficulty accessing culturally appropriate care. Rural families report significant unmet information and service needs. Nurses are essential in supporting rural families and providing end-of-life information.
CarerHelp (www.carerhelp.com.au) is an online resource with extensive end-of-life information for families. While CarerHelp is available for all Australians, and the information and resources on the website are relevant for rural carers, there is a need for end-of-life information that is tailored to the rural experience.
Aim: To identify the unique information needs of rural carers and develop a resource/s to guide them to care for people with a life-limiting illness.
Method: The information and unmet needs of rural carers will be identified via:
Reviewing the literature.
Consulting with health services and key health professionals.
Expert opinion from relevant organisations that represent rural Australians and specifically rural carers.
Results: Preliminary results show unmet needs for rural carers, including travelling to health appointments, financial costs, social and emotional factors, accessing support services, navigating the health system, asking for help from the community, and cultural differences (including the rural culture). A new resource for rural carers has been developed and is being reviewed by experts, rural carers, and health professionals and updates will be made based on feedback received.
Conclusion: The new resource will be added to the CarerHelp Information Pack. Copies of the pack will be distributed to rural health services and will be available for download from the CarerHelp website. Nurses in rural areas may benefit from utilising CarerHelp resources with families.