Relationship to the
National Palliative Care Strategy

In September 2000, the Commonwealth released the National Palliative Care Strategy; a national framework for palliative care service development.  This strategy sets a number of policy objectives for Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments to achieve in conjunction with other key stakeholders and in particular it identifies three goals to be addressed:

• To improve community and professional awareness and understanding of, and professional commitment to, the role of palliative care practices in supporting the care needs of people who are dying and their families.
• To support continuous improvement in the quality and effectiveness of all palliative care service delivery across Australia.
• To promote and support partnerships in the provision of care for people who are dying and their families, and the infrastructure for that care, to support delivery of high quality, effective palliative care across all settings.

Objectives and strategies to achieve each of these goals are included under the Strategy framework.

As the document notes, the challenge is to secure the place of palliative care as an integral part of health care across Australia, routinely available within local communities to those people who need it. Care and support for people who are dying and their families? needs are to be built not only into health care services, but into the fabric of communities and their support networks. Care built around the principles of palliative care needs to be available to anyone who is dying, whatever the cause of death.

This Program aims to implement and evaluate a model of care that addresses three objectives articulated in the national strategy:

Objective 2.4:   Service development
To promote ongoing evaluation and research into client care needs, best practice palliative care, service delivery models, and resource allocation models; and to implement the results of such research.

Objective 3.1:   Partnerships in care coordination
To support the coordination of care for the person who is dying and their family, through partnerships between the person, the family, and the service providers and volunteers involved.

Objective 3.2:   Partnerships in service planning and delivery
To develop strong partnerships between palliative care service providers, other health service providers, and the service system infrastructure, including administrative arrangements.  Ensure the delivery of palliative care is geographically accessible and integrated across service delivery settings.

For more information on the National Palliative Care Strategy please visit the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing website at www.health.gov.au/palliativecare  

 

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