Katherine
Lane, 13 11 20 Nurse Manger recently won an award on her presentation to the
Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Group. The talk aimed to
better understand the nature of palliative care and end of life enquires
received through 13 11 20.
The study
included analysis of 1,328 de-identified calls from patients, carers, family
and friends that were categorised into the following topics: Palliative Care,
Recurrence/Progression of Disease, Prognosis/Survival Rates, Grief and Loss,
Death and Dying. Of these, 23% were from patients and 66% were from carers or
family members.
Analysis
revealed that a large component of these discussions focused on the eligibility
for palliative care, referral processes and psychological and emotional support
for patients and carers relating to advanced cancer and end of life matters.
This study brings to the forefront the emotional needs of people, specifically
with palliative care and end of life questions.
It may seem
confronting or overwhelming for patients, family and friends when cancer
treatment is no longer working. Our Living with
Advanced Cancer or Facing End of Life
information booklets outlines what can happen emotionally and physically during
this time and provides information about practical support and how to access
services such as palliative
care, for patients with advanced cancer.
The Primary Care Collaborative Cancer
Clinical Trials Group (PC4) was established in February 2009. It is funded by
Cancer Australia to support the development of high quality cancer research in
Primary Care. The group is directed by Jon Emery, Professor of General Practice
at The University of Melbourne, and currently has 540 members nationally.
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