Strategies to engage resident’s representatives in Aged Care

Karen Glaetzer

Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner

The “Hospice in RACF” Project enabled us to trial several interventions to produce a model and business case for best practice palliative care in aged care that addresses domains:

  • Advance care planning,
  • Escalation of care pathways,
  • Specialist palliative care in-reach support,
  • Education and training,
  • Personal care worker traineeships and
  • Grief and bereavement support.

The main objective was to support aged care residents to remain at the facility for end-of-life care. One of the main enablers for this was through engaging resident’s representatives in proactive advance care planning. As a result, 96% of Eldercare residents died in their usual place of care compared with the national average of 82%.

This presentation will discuss the key processes that have enhanced family engagement.