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Issues for palliative care in rural Australia
Collegian (Royal College of Nursing, Australia)
|July 1, 1997
Summary
Rural palliative care services in Australia prioritize symptom management, experienced care, and family support. Models should offer home-like settings and flexible team structures, though tertiary access remains a challenge.
Area of Science:
- Palliative Care
- Rural Health Services
- Health Service Delivery Models
Background:
- The Commonwealth Government's National Palliative Care Program funded research into rural palliative care.
- Understanding effective service delivery models is crucial for non-remote rural Australian regions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify sound palliative care service delivery models for rural Australia.
- To understand patient and carer priorities in palliative care.
Main Methods:
- Development of a palliative care service baseline.
- Postal surveys and field examinations across eight rural regions.
- In-depth analysis in four regions using interviews and group sessions with stakeholders.
Main Results:
- Patients and carers prioritize symptom/pain management, followed by experienced care and family support.
- Palliative care can be integrated into small hospitals; services should be home-like and family-centric.
- Rural palliative care planning requires distinct approaches for provincial cities versus hinterlands; nursing expertise provision needs attention.
Conclusions:
- Rural palliative care services are generally high quality when active treatment ceases.
- Access to tertiary services during the pre-palliative phase is a significant limitation.
- Flexible palliative care team structures tailored to catchment needs are recommended.