A/Prof. Kim Devery1,2,3, Dr Caroline Phelan1,2,3
1Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia, 2Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death, and Dying (RePaDD), Bedford Park, Australia, 3End-of-Life Essentials, Australia
Biography:
Kim works in the field of end-of-life and palliative care. In her teaching Kim guides doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in post graduate studies, ultimately to strengthen their capacity in delivering health care services to patients who are at the end of life. Kim also leads a major national education and knowledge translation project End-of-Life Essentials, funded by the Commonwealth Government since 2015 that’s free and evidence based, which aims to increase professionals’ skill and confidence in end-of-life care in Australian acute hospitals.
Abstract:
Background: Health care professionals who work in Australian hospitals, where the majority of people die, are well prepared and trained to prolong life and restore health. However, these skills of restoring health can be a challenge when providing care to people at the end of life or those dealing with progressive serious illness. End-of-Life Essentials provides evidence based and peer reviewed education, practice change, and hospital accreditation resources is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
Aims: To create an authentic resource to showcase the importance of the patient’s perspective.
Methods: Following extensive patient qualitative interviews, thematic analysis and working with script writers and animators we produced an animation.
Results: Our new animation ‘The Patient’s Perspective’ is based on the story of a generous woman, who, when faced with her own serious and life limiting illness wanted her experience shared. She offers her experience so we can all learn how to be better professionals. What made things worse for her, was not being treated like a person, being stripped of her identity that was only replaced by a diagnosis or interventions which made her feel vulnerable, lost, and unsafe.
What helped her were professionals who took a few extra moments to ask about her, not about her illness, but about her as a person. To see the world through her eyes.
The animation fits well into the framework developed by Chochinov, the ABCD of Dignity in Care. This talk will provide examples and techniques that can be implemented in teaching others or improving one’s own practice.
Conclusions: Our animation and Chochinov’s work can be employed in various ways such as teaching, and practice change for individuals, clinical teams, and organisations.