Objectives, Methods & Outcomes of the Project
Key objectives:
- To identify end of life care pathways currently in use nationally and internationally
- To develop a business case and work plan documents for use within Victoria
- To provide practical solution/s to enable consistent, quality end of life care throughout Victoria, irrespective of setting or disease.
Key methods:
The objectives were realised using the following processes:
- A broad review of the literature surrounding care pathways and end of life care pathways including a search of the grey literature
- Garnering and incorporating service provider opinion to present an accurate account of current practices
- Consultation and review by an expert advisory panel
- Developing practice recommendations to accurately reflect all such evidence.
The study identified that:
- The needs of the dying are complex and care is often multi-disciplinary
- The quality of death is often dependent on the experience of the practitioner and the resources that are available to them and this has resulted in a wide variation in practices between different institutions and service providers
- There is a recognised need to monitor and provide consistent, quality end of life care
- The best quality of care for each dying person can only be achieved if care needs are identified and addressed systematically and collaboratively
- By identifying tools that can enhance and guide the delivery of care across all disciplines and settings, the many needs of each dying person can be addressed and may lead to a greater quality of death
- End of life care pathways address inconsistencies in care provisions by providing structured patient management strategies
- End of life care pathways facilitate the most appropriate management by the most appropriate providers at the most appropriate time
- Patients and their families may be conflicted in the level of information they would like to receive but want to be included in discussions about end of life care.
This web tool provides resources and links to sites that may be helpful in determining the feasibility and appropriateness of introducing an end of life care pathway in your setting. Due to the limited scope of the project, this web tool is not an exhaustive reference but aims to provide guidance in decision-making with links to useful external providers.
For further information on this project, you can email or call us
+61 3 9854 1659.
