National Palliative Care Week (22-28 May) this year focusses on ‘Living Well with Chronic Illness’ and provides the perfect opportunity for friends and family to encourage people with life-limiting conditions to make their end-of-life wishes known.
Palliative Care Australia (PCA) will highlight how palliative care can help people with chronic illnesses to live well. Four out of five deaths in Australia are caused by chronic illness, but there is a misconception that only cancer patients can access palliative care.
People with chronic illnesses often have more than one chronic illness which affects their health in different ways. Early access to palliative care can help them have a better quality of life.
The call to action in 2016 is to get people to talk about their end-of-life care wishes before it is too late. Palliative Care Australia’s new website www.dyingtotalk.org.au provides a Discussion Starter that can be used by anyone to help talk to their loved ones and health professionals about their end-of-life care wishes.
CLICK HERE for the National Palliative Care Week 2016 Events Calendar
CLICK HERE for the new ‘dying to talk’ website.