Good palliative care aims to meet the needs of the individual at the end-of-life. A palliative approach helps with physical, emotional and spiritual comfort. It needs good communication between the resident, family and the staff.
When you move in to a residential aged care facility (RACF), nurses will spend time with you and your family. As they collect information, the staff learn about you. They find out how you wish to be cared for and how you wish to live your life at the RACF. The staff use this to develop a plan of care that reflects your needs and wishes.
Useful Tip
The term 'Family' is used in the broadest sense. The term family includes people identified by the person as family and may include people who are biologically related and people who joined the family through marriage or other relationships, as well as the family of choice and friends (including pets). [1]
Who to contact
Staff will ask you about the people who are important to you. They will ask for their names and contact details. They will identify who is to be the main contact. This is so staff know who to discuss care needs with, if you are not able to do so.
When a resident is approaching the end of their life, staff will review the resident's care needs and contact details for their family. It is important that contact details are correct. Staff will want to know if family wish to be called at any time. Some families only want to be called between certain hours. Having this detail can help prevent confusion if the staff need to contact your family.
Meetings with residents and family
Staff may meet with family at different times during your stay including:
- a few weeks after admission
- from time to time during your stay at the RACF
- when you appear to be approaching the end-of-life, or
- at the request of the family.
A family meeting or case conference is a more formal meeting. This is where health professionals, you and the family can discuss care arrangements. This allows everyone to share their concerns. They can identify common goals and resolve conflict. A palliative care case conference will discuss care arrangements for palliative care.
If you or your family are concerned about the care provided, ask to see the registered nurse. You may want to have a family meeting or case conference. A registered nurse, clinical nurse, or manager will attend to this.
Useful Tip
Site managers / Care managers / Directors of Nursing in Aged Care tend to be very busy. While they will always make time to see families, making an appointment for a mutually convenient time is always appreciated. It also allows the manager to prepare properly for the meeting, and to allocate sufficient time to the meeting.
Page last updated 25 January 2022