Mariana Ricci1, Kate Swetenham1, Amber Bisset1, David Holden1
1SA Health, South Australia, Australia
Biography:
Mariana Ricci is a Manager with the South Australian Department for Health Wellbeing’s End of Life Care Team. She has spent most of her career working for the healthcare sector in Europe, the UK and the USA. She currently manages Commonwealth-funded projects in end of life care being implemented by SA Health. She has worked alongside Kate Swetenham, PCNA’s President to design and commission, and they are now implementing Palliative Care Connect in South Australia, also exploring models for its scalability across the country.
Abstract:
Background: Sensitivities related to the transition from cure to care at end of life, misconceptions that palliative care is only for the last days of life, lack of or delayed referrals, and the complexity of the health and welfare systems mean patients, family members and carers may not receive timely access to palliative care services.
Aims: The Commonwealth Government funded South Australia to test models of palliative care navigation. Branded Palliative Care Connect, the Pilot provides a suite of palliative care and bereavement navigation services
Methods: Palliative Care Connect is delivered statewide via telehealth, and through hybrid models in regional areas and for Aboriginal communities. Palliative care navigation is delivered statewide by a team of nurses and social workers through a dedicated phoneline (1800 PALLI8). Callers are also directed to Palliative Care Connect services in their area.
Results: Investment in regionally specific palliative care and bereavement navigation has underscored the discrepancies in service availability between regional and metropolitan areas. It also emphasised the need for innovative navigation strategies that connect individuals to both formal and informal supports within their local communities.
Palliative Care Connect’s visibility across several health and aged care systems helps understanding each client’s context regardless of where they are located and assists with timely service activation. This was achieved by embedding statewide palliative care navigation within the public community care system.
Conclusions: Palliative Care Connect is entering its final year of funding as a Pilot and data demonstrate high levels of consumer satisfaction. Palliative care navigation problem solves and helps people to locate and access resources, serving as a link between community, primary and tertiary services. It ensures that people are better supported from the beginning of their palliative care journey, which saves time from Specialist Palliative Care staff and GPs.