ELDAC Working Together Program
A blog post written by Rebecca Moore, Diana Harrison, Heidi Wiebe, Jennifer Gavin, and Melissa Brodie, ELDAC Project Coordinators from Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
The ELDAC (End of Life Directions for Aged Care) Working Together Program is a facilitated palliative care and advance care planning initiative that aims to improve the quality of end-of-life care for all older Australians receiving aged care. The program is underpinned by evidence-based strategies to enhance linkages between aged, primary and specialist palliative care providers and is supported by the Working Together Toolkit.
As part of the program ELDAC project coordinators guide participating aged care providers through processes to assess, develop and implement sustainable improvements in palliative care and advance care planning. Facilitation is tailored to need, provided at no cost and designed to support participating service goals.
Expected outcomes of participation by aged care providers include:
- improved capacity to provide end of life care
- improved staff confidence, skills and knowledge about palliative care and advance care planning, and
- improved access to palliative care advice and support.
The program provides opportunities to support participating aged care services through individual, service and system development.
We have been working with the aged care services and their partners, including primary and specialist palliative care, to support them to improve their linkages with palliative care providers and resources to achieve person-centred end-of-life care and facilitate a coordinated, collaborative and connected systems approach to care.
With phase one (2017 – 2020) of ELDAC now complete, QUT (Queensland University of Technology) have developed a range of promotional products to showcase the outcomes and achievements of the seventy aged care services who participated across Australia and the impact of the ELDAC Working Together Program.
These include:
- Case Story Booklet provides an overview of the activities undertaken by the participating aged care services and demonstrates the benefits of the facilitated model and underpinning linkage strategies
- Promotional Videos
- The Facilitator video introduces the ELDAC facilitators, who outline the Working Together program and the importance of building linkages between aged, primary and specialist palliative care providers
- Five case story videos demonstrate the breadth and reach of the program and the compelling stories as told by the participants:
- The ELDAC Showcase 2020 – a virtual event presented across two days in December, including a live plenary featuring ELDAC Chief Investigator Distinguished Professor Patsy Yates AM, followed by pre-recorded presentations featuring participating aged care services.
We would like to acknowledge the achievements of the phase one participating aged care services and their partners, and are excited to be recruiting and supporting a new cohort of diverse aged care service providers across Australia to participate in phase two of the ELDAC Working Together Program. An expression of interest will be released on the ELDAC website in late February, and participation will be supported through the provision of an administrative grant designed to support engagement in the program activities.
The EOI will be released via the ELDAC website and newsletter.
Rebecca Moore, ELDAC Project Coordinator from QUT
Diana Harrison, ELDAC Project Coordinator from QUT
Heidi Wiebe, ELDAC Project Coordinator from QUT
Jennifer Gavin, ELDAC Project Coordinator from QUT
Melissa Brodie, ELDAC Project Coordinator from QUT