Care to die at home
IT is well established that most Australians wish to die at home, but it becomes a reality for just less than half of people receiving palliative care. We are reversing that trend in the Greater Geelong region with Barwon Health’s Palliative Care at Home service, with the aim to give palliative care patients and their families the best possible end-of-life experience for their physical and emotional needs.
Earlier this month, our Pal at Home team was celebrated with a 2022 Victorian Public Healthcare Award for “improving integration of care for patients with chronic and complex conditions”.
The team was delighted with this award and we hope this well-earned recognition provides another way to talk about the importance of palliative care in our community.
The Barwon Health Pal at Home service is unique and was implemented in December 2019 to enable more people to receive care at home and meet their wish to die at home. Patients and carers are supported at home, and our team ensures the best outcome for each individual patient and their family.
Over 2½ years, Pal at Home has cared for more than 350 people in their home environment, when previously they would have required hospital admission to have their care needs met.
This service has extended out into the region as far as Lorne, Meredith and Winchelsea, at times visiting families on their farms, coastal or rural homes.
We’re grateful to now have the resources to offer this treatment outside the hospital setting and the feedback from patients and their carers has been overwhelmingly positive.
For me, Pal at Home is the best job I could have wished for.
I look forward to every day, working with an amazing team of excellent, adaptive and caring nurses, and equally excellent and supportive doctors.
The diversity of patients and the care needs is continually challenging and in equal parts rewarding. One of the joys of the model of care is the need to adapt every time we have a new patient, to work with the family to best fit the patient and carer needs.
There’s a welcome relief felt when the nurse team arrives for a visit and we delight in having meaningful and responsive conversations that put health changes and concerns in perspective for patients and carers.
We’re often told that caring for a patient’s physical needs in the home allows carers to focus on emotional and spiritual needs, and that our service takes pressure off the family to look after their loved one during this difficult process.
We’re able to offer care around the clock through scheduled visits and on-call to a dedicated phone number. The trust across the journey is a special experience.
Our recognition with a Victorian Public Healthcare Award will drive our commitment to provide the complete range of options for those in our community who need palliative care at home or in our palliative care unit or a combination of both.
It is a privilege to be part of Barwon Health and offer this important service for those who need it. Our team is deservedly proud of the care we provide, and we welcome whoever next needs our support.