Engagement project

About the Engagement project 

The CareSearch Engagement project engaged with specific groups to learn more about how they find and use health care information, and what information about end of life and palliative care they need. The aim was to increase awareness and understanding of palliative care, to strengthen our connections with professional and community groups, and to ensure everyone has access to reliable information they can trust. We developed and applied a structured Engagement Framework to examine the effectiveness of this approach.

The three sector groups we focussed on for the project in 2017-2020 period were:

• Patients, Families and Carers
• Aged Care, and
• Allied Health.

About CareSearch and palliAGED

CareSearch and palliAGED provide reliable, evidence-based online information for everyone on end-of-life and palliative care. This information can support informed decision-making on the most appropriate care. These are important decisions that need to be made whether you are a patient, family member, carer, or health care provider.

Working out what is based on fact and not just someone’s opinion is not always easy. CareSearch and palliAGED act as a ‘gateway’ to ensure that online health information is trustworthy. We also consolidate evidence into accessible language and formats that reflect the needs of specific professional and community groups. Letting people know how to access and best use CareSearch and palliAGED resources is an important part of what we do.

Explore engagement resources and dissemination actions

Allied Health 

• The Allied Health Action Plan (381kb pdf)
• The White Paper 'Allied Health in Australia and its Role in Palliative Care (935kb pdf)' was written as part of the first phase of the Engagement Project as a relatively detailed scan of the environment to describe the context and mechanisms at play in the sector
• Article published in Speak Out magazine (August 2019), Speech Pathology Australia: Self-care for speech pathologists who care for people at end of life (445kb pdf)
• Article published in Connections magazine (August 2019), Occupational Therapy Australia: Becoming research active step by step (865kb pdf)
• Article published in the newsletter (August 2019), Australian Counselling Association (ACA): Palliative care in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia
• Article published in Response magazine (July 2019), Paramedics Australasia: Self-care for paramedics (2.96MB pdf)
• Article published in InMotion magazine (July 2019), Australian Physiotherapy Association: Physios well placed to help with pain (148kb pdf)
• Article published in InPsych magazine (June 2019), Australian Psychological Society: Reflective practice in palliative care (137kb pdf)
• Article published in Speak Out magazine (June 2019), Speech Pathology Australia: Palliative care and how evidence supports speech pathologists who care for people at end of life (77kb pdf)
• Article published in the newsletter (June 2019), Australian Counselling Association (ACA): How palliAGED can help counsellors with end of life for older Australians
• Article published in InMotion magazine (June 2019), Australian Physiotherapy Association: Create a safe space for open discussions (229kb pdf)
• Article published in Connections magazine (June 2019), Occupational Therapy Australia: Finding evidence and clinical guidance you can trust and why it matters (205kb pdf)
• Article published in InMotion magazine (May 2019 pg 38), Australian Physiotherapy Association: Self-care for physiotherapists in palliative care which sits within 'A common thread of caring'
• Article published in the newsletter (May 2019), Australian Counselling Association (ACA): Finding evidence and why it matters and finding clinical guidelines you can trust
• Article published in InMotion magazine (May 2019), Australian Physiotherapy Association: Tools to help physios in palliative care (225kb pdf)
• Article published in InMotion magazine (April 2019), Australian Physiotherapy Association: Tools to help you learn about palliative care (175kb pdf)
• Article published in InPsych magazine (April 2019), Australian Psychological Society: The misunderstood world of palliative care (175kb pdf)
• Article published on HealthTimes website (April 2019): Tools to help allied health professionals with palliative care
• Article published in Connections magazine (April 2019), Occupational Therapy Australia: Helping occupational therapists work with people at the end of life (2.29MB pdf)
• Article published in newsletter (April 2019), Australian Counselling Association (ACA): Self-care for counsellors in palliative care
• Article published in newsletter (March 2019), Australian Counselling Association (ACA): How CareSearch and palliAGED can help counsellors with palliative care (146kb pdf)
• CareSearch Palliative Perspectives Blog by Jan Obery, Social Worker: Dancing Between Two Rooms: Social Workers Engaging with People as they Live with Dying
• Article published on HealthTimes website (March 2019): Looking after yourself when you look after people at the end of their life
• Article published in InMotion magazine (March 2019), Australian Physiotherapy Association: What is palliative care and why is it important? (195kb pdf)
• Article published in newsletter (February 2019), Australian Counselling Association: What is palliative care and why is it important? (336kb pdf)
• Article published in Connections magazine (February 2019), Occupational Therapy Australia: What is palliative care and why is it important for occupational therapists? (37kb pdf)
• Article published in Response magazine (January 2019), Paramedics Australasia: The role of paramedics in palliative care (1.19MB pdf)
• CareSearch Palliative Perspectives Blog by Wendy Pearse, Speech Pathologist: Staying in the ring: Clinical speech pathology at the end of life.

Aged care

• The aged care Action Plan (552kb pdf)
• Presentation ‘End of Life Matters for Everyone' (99kb pdf) - 5th International Conference on Ageing in a Foreign Land, 19-20 June 2019, Adelaide, South Australia: by Rosie Bonnin
• Presentation ‘End of Life Matters - Connecting and Informing Care' (103kb pdf)’ - SA Gerontology (SAGe) Conference, 21 June 2019, Adelaide, South Australia: by Rosie Bonnin
• Articles published in 'Palliative Matters' a Palliative Care SA Newsletter (June-July 2019): by Rosie Bonnin
• Article published in PEPA Aged Care Newsletter (June 2019): CareSearch and palliAGED Update by Rosie Bonnin
• Article published in Australian Ageing Agenda (May2019): Bringing death and dying to the table by Rosie Bonnin
• Article published in Australian Ageing Agenda (April 2019): Enabling Choices (147kb pdf) by Rosie Bonnin
• Article published in Resthaven News (March 2019): Palliative Care Role Supports End of Life
• Article published in PsychAGE News (March 2019): Profiling palliAGED (164kb pdf) by Rosie Bonnin
• Presentation at the Improving End-of-Life Care in Aged Care Conference, Brisbane February 2019: Putting Evidence into Every Day Practice (3.49MB pdf) by Rosie Bonnin
  Article published in Sydney Health Issue (March 2019), Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network (CESPHN): End of Life Matters for Everyone (6.82MB pdf)
• Article published in The Bulletin (March 2019), Brisbane South Primary Health Network (BSPHN): Improving end of life care in Brisbane south (5.32MB pdf)

Patients and carers 

• The patients, carers, and families Action Plan (503kb pdf)
• Article published in Lutheran Nurses In Touch newsletter (e-News) (July 2019): The Important Role of Palliative Care (1.07MB pdf). By Robyn Dutschke
• Article published in the Health Consumers Council WA Health Matters magazine (May 2019): Considering the Whole Person (1.85MB pdf) by Dr Lauren Miller-Lewis
• Article published in the Palliative Care Queensland E-News (March 2019): 'CareSearch: Resources for Patients Carers and Families’ by Dr Lauren Miller-Lewis
• News article from Palliative Care NSW about 'CareSearch: What palliative care information is most needed by patients, carers and families?'
• News article from Palliative Care Volunteering NSW about 'CareSearch: What palliative care information is most needed by patients, carers and families?'
• Article from the Palliative Care NSW Member Update newsletter 'Seeking feedback on palliative care information needed by patients, carers and families'
• Blog article from startsat60 'My mother’s last bra and the long, daily hello of Alzheimer’s'
• CareSearch Palliative Perspectives Blog about 'Contemplating the last Christmas Together'
• CareSearch Palliative Perspectives Blog by community representative Meg Brassil about 'Dealing with Dying - Some Comments for Carers'