This week, UTS hosted a palliative care forum to coincide with National Palliative Care Week. The forum, chaired by UTS Professor of Nursing (Palliative Care) Professor Jane Philips, discussed ways of improving care planning for people living with dementia.
The panel at the forum identified clear and candid communication; family case conferences; education and attitude and; appropriate care (right time, right place, right person) as critical elements of effective dementia care.
Dementia care experts stressed the importance of having an advance care plan (ideally drafted before the diagnosis, or as soon as possible post-diagnosis).
GP Dimity Pond, a professor from the University of Newcastle said that advance care plans were “not just for the over-70s”, recommending that people keep copies “In their wallets, at the front door or with relatives.”
UTS Professor of Palliative Medicine Professor Meera Agar said that all aspects of a person’s life – from the medical to the legal and financial – need to be considered in patient assessment and care delivery. She also emphasised the need to involve family in setting the agenda for the patient’s care and the need for flexibility when scheduling family case conferences to decrease stress and angst leading up to consultation.
Other forum participants including Professor Lynn Chenoweth (UNSW Centre for Health Brain Ageing), psychologist Craig Sinclair (University of Western Australia), Professor Sue Kurrle (University of Sydney) and Professor Debra Parker (Western Sydney University), who all emphasized the importance of designing care that takes into account the needs, desires and specific circumstances of people living with dementia.
As Professor Chenoweth said, ‘rights, values, beliefs, history, likes and dislikes – all the things that make people human and unique – should dictate how we provide care.’