Patient diversity resources

Homelessness

• Many nursing services will work alongside services for the homeless to help people who may need care. Bolton Clarke has information on their website that gives examples of how they help.
• The Council to homeless persons website has a summary of some of the issues faced by those who are homeless.
• Street Smart Australia (Action against homelessness) raise funds to support smaller organisations that carry out vital work.
• Homelessness Australia provide advocacy for the homelessness sector.
• The Marie Curie (UK) website has information on Caring for people experiencing homelessness in palliative care.
• From the Australian government Department of Health and Aged Care: Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care - Issues Report on People Experiencing Homelessness (2019) explains the barriers to accessing care and some promising approaches.

Intellectually Disabled

• Talking End of Life with people with intellectual disability is designed for disability support workers but may be helpful for health professionals. It shows you how to teach people with intellectual disability about the end of life.
• Better health channel Victoria - End of life and palliative care for people living with a disability offers a range of information around planning and care options.
• From the Australian government Department of Health and Aged Care: Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care – Issues Report on People with Disabilities (2019) explains about the barriers to accessing care and offers some promising approaches.
• Information can be found at the University of Hertfordshire website. While this information relates to the UK, it has some useful information and resources. Here you will find:
• Top ten tips for effective consultation
• Consent and people with intellectual disabilities: the basics
• Palliative care and intellectual disabilities
• Bereavement in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities
• From the book 'Contemporary and innovative practice in palliative care' (Ch 16) McCallion P, McCarron M, Fahey-McCarthy E, Connaire K. Meeting the end of life needs of older adults with intellectual disabilities (2012). This talks about demographics, the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease and best practices.
• From the Palliative Care Network of Wisconsin Fast Facts and Concepts you can access:
• Palliative care for adults with developmental disabilities #192
• Decision making for adults with developmental disabilities near the end of life #193
• Palliative care for patients with down syndrome #243

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex

• From the Victorian Government: A Rainbow eQuality guide to assist health and community services adopt inclusive practices. Here you can find information around understanding LGBTI health, conversion practice inquiry, the LGBTI taskforce, intersex variations and trans and gender diverse health.
• From the National LGBTIQ+ Health Australia has a Knowledge Hub of resources for the workforce, the community and also has a search facility.
• The Gender Centre (Australia) has a variety of resources to people with gender issues to make informed choices. There are many groups and resources available.
• Intersex Human Rights Australia provide for everyone to understand intersex human rights.
• Rainbow Health Victoria support lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) through research and knowledge translation, training and service accreditation through the Rainbow Tick.
• From Marie Curie (UK) a resource: “Hiding who I am” The reality of end of life care for LGBT people (1.27MB pdf). This is a report that highlights the barriers to getting palliative care and explains why.
• The Australian Charter of Health Care Rights describes the rights of patients using the Australian Health system.
• The Aged Services Learning and Research Centre (ASLaRC) has produced a booklet for consumers: Respect my decisions: IT’S MY RIGHT! A guide to advance end-of-life care planning for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & intersex people (2011) (384kb pdf).
• From the Australian government Department of Health and Aged Care: Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care – Issues Report on People who Identify as Lesbian, Gay, bisexual, transgender or Intersex (2019) describes the barriers and offers some promising approaches.
• LGBTIQ+ Health Australia Palliative Care 11 tips poster provides you with 11 points to consider for LGBTIQ+ inclusive palliative care. You can use the poster in your workplace.
• From the Dying Matters (UK) website: End of Life care for LGBT people is a video that highlights what is important during end of life care for LGBT people.

Ageing

• From the National LGBTIQ+ Health Australia : Silver rainbow - Ageing and Aged Care. This is a project that aims offers aged care training to educate others on how to meet the needs of LGBTI elders.
• From the The Aged Care Assessment Service (ACAS) ‘LGBTI inclusive Aged Care Assessment - Guidesheets’ (531kb pdf) provide insights into the experiences of the LGBTI community and offer key considerations and actions for assessment.
• To understand the barriers and help to address them, the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care: Aged Care Diversity Framework and action plans gives a shared action plan.

Living Alone

• The Better Health Channel Victoria, provides useful information about services and caring for those with dementia. See their section Dementia support for people who live alone.
• Dementia Australia - Caring for someone who lives alone section offers some useful insights into support that a person living alone with dementia may require.
• From the Australian Institute of Family Studies: Demographics of Living Alone (Australian Family Trends No. 6) shows the trends of those living alone in Australia and also compares this with other countries.

Mental Illness

• The Department of Health and Aged Care has information and resources on Mental Health, including access to services and how to get help now. It is important to note that each State and Territory have their own Mental health Act which may impose limitations.
• SANE Australia has Factsheets and Guides on a range of mental health diagnosis and issues. They offer resources that may help including some facts and myth busting.
• The Beyond Blue website has a lot of information and resources on depression. They also run a podcast called Not Alone.
• The myDr website has information on: Mental Health. It includes tips for kids and meditation techniques to become more mindful.
• Embrace Multicultural Mental Health provides national leadership in building greater awareness of mental health and suicide prevention amongst Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
• Healthdirect has information for consumers on caring for someone with a mental health disorder. They provide a checklist on being an effective carer and how to look after yourself.
• The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet has the following resources:
• A review of the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous Australian peoples
• Health promotion resources including suicide prevention, coping with grief and loss, tackling anxiety and depression.

Multicultural

• The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing has a range of bilingual resources for use in a community and residential aged care setting.
• The Department of Health and Aged Care (Victoria) has information on cultural and linguistic diversity and improving health. There are resources relating to interpreter services, as well as a health translations directory.
• The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing has palliative care information. There are various fact sheets in different languages relating to palliative care, carer needs, patient rights and more.
• Palliative care Victoria has multicultural palliative care resources, and information on Cultural responsiveness under their health professionals section.
• From the Australian government Department of Health and Aged Care: Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care - Issues Report on People from culturally and Linguistically diverse Backgrounds (2019) which provides insight into the barriers and offers some promising approaches for the future.
• Migrant Information Centre (Eastern Melbourne) (MIC). Palliative care for culturally and linguistically diverse communities (1.16MB pdf). Box Hill, Vic: MIC; 2009. Provide cultural profiles, a calendar of cultural celebrations relating to a small group of communities that are living in the Eastern Metropolitan region of Melbourne.
• Queensland Health has various resources relating to interpreting and translating.
• For those from Black and Ethnic minority groups receiving palliative care, there is guidance from the Cicely Saunders Institute (UK) Spiritual care for people from BME groups (2010). Their recommendations focus on spiritual and cultural dimensions of palliative care with the aim of filling the gap in policy guidance.
• From the Palliative Care Bridge website. Listen to Dr Astrid Perry talk about the importance of consideration of culture in end-of-life care.

Older people

• Dementia Australia has information about dementia. Resources are for people with dementia and their carers.
• A position statement Palliative Care and Dementia (157kb pdf) from Palliative Care Australia and Alzheimer’s Australia (2018) relating to dementia being a terminal condition.
• Hughes J. Models of dementia care: Person-centred palliative and supportive (493kb pdf). A discussion paper for Alzheimer's Australia on death and dementia. Paper 35. Scullen, ACT: Alzheimer's Australia; 2013 June.
• Office of the Royal Commission Background Paper 3 - Dementia in Australia: nature, prevalence and care This paper provides information on how best to care for people living with dementia.

Paediatrics

• Here is a list of the Australian State Paediatric Palliative Care Services:
• Lady Cilento Children's Hospital (Qld)
• Royal Children’s Hospital (VIC)
• Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick (NSW) Palliative Medicine Services
• The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (NSW) Pain and Palliative Care Service
• John Hunter Children's Hospital (NSW)
• Women’s and Children’s Hospital (SA)
• Perth Children’s Hospital (WA)
• Children’s Hospices Bear Cottage (NSW)
• Very Special Kids (VIC)
• Hummingbird House (Qld).
• The Palliative Care Australia website provides useful resources for health professionals and for carers at Paediatric Palliative Care. They link you with resources around the country.
• Quality of Care Collaborative Australia (QuoCCA) project delivers paediatric palliative care education to health professionals. Head to the bottom of the page and click on the box for learning resources for health professionals.
• The WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network provide the Paediatric and Adolescent Palliative care Model of care (2009) (394kb pdf). The Model of Care proposes that all children and adolescents with life-limiting illness, and their families, have access to specialist palliative care services in a timely manner.
• The International Children's Palliative Care Network has developed several short courses as part of a longer term strategy of providing eLearning programmes on children's palliative care.
• The US Children’s Hospice International promote the idea that children who are critically ill should have access to hospice/ palliative care form the time their life -threatening illness has been diagnosed, along with curative treatment.
• Bereavement Support is offered from Red Nose. They have a grief and loss support library, a 24/7 support line, as well as live chat options.
• To learn more about giving a critically ill child a life changing wish journey, visit the Make a Wish Foundation Australia website. Explore the many wish stories and use the how to apply button to refer a child.
• The Queensland Government provide information about Palliative Care for Children with Cancer in A practical guide to palliative care in paediatrics' (2MB pdf).
• The video 'Emily's story' is designed to support the learning activities associated with the focus topic 'Caring for children with life-limiting conditions' in the palliative care curriculum for undergraduates (PCC4U).

People with HIV / AIDS

• The Victorian Government has generic health information on HIV / AIDS.
• For generic health promotion HIV / AIDS resources resources, the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet.
• Australian Federation of AIDS organisations has generic resources relating to HIV / AIDS.
• From the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM), a practical resource on Aged Care Workers and HIV and Ageing is provided.

Prisoners

• From the Australian government Department of Health and Aged Care: Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care - Issues Report on People who are incarcerated (2019) they give insight into the barriers and offer promising approaches.
• The Prison and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) provide a report on the challenges of end of life care in prisons, Learning from PPO investigations: End of life care. London: PPO; 2013. This report uncovers how the prison service responded to the challenge of end of life care in the prison system in the U.K. between 2007 and 2012.
• The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has developed Standards for health services in Australian prisons (2011). It assists general practitioners working to achieve better health outcomes for people in custody.
• Melbourne University research blog: Caring for the terminally ill in prison offers useful insights into the challenges of caring for someone in the prison setting.

Refugees and Asylum Seekers

• Find information regarding visas, community support programs and special humanitarian programs from the Department of Home Affairs visit Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program webpage.
• The Refugee Council of Australia has information on Australia’s Refugee Program has many resources and fact sheets relating to immigration and resettling in Australia.
• The Australian Human Rights Commission has information on Asylum Seekers and Refugees, that describes what an asylum seeker and refugee is and outlines their human rights.
• This resource is for use by doctors, nurses and other primary care providers to inform on-arrival and ongoing health care for people from refugee backgrounds, visit the Australian Refugee Health Practice Guide.
• The Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (FASSTT) website has useful information and resources relating to the rehabilitation of those that are survivors of torture or trauma who have come from overseas.
• From the Australian government Department of Health and Aged Care: Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care - Issues Report on Refugees (2019) gives an insight into the associated barriers and suggests some promising approaches for the future.
• The Australian Psychological Society has information in relation to Refugees and asylum seekers, they provide key points and suggest ways that individuals can get involved to support and advocate for refugees.