A review of the barriers to accessing palliative care that are experienced by some groups has also identified a number of enablers of quality palliative care:[1]
- Increasing community comfort with discussing death and dying
- Promoting community awareness and understanding of palliative care
- Facilitating timely initiation of palliative care
- Fostering a greater understanding of the needs of underserved populations
- Improving communication and information provision
- Enhancing provision of person and family-centred care
- Better supporting advance care planning.
As previously described, providing person and family-centred care is an important way to support access to palliative care for people from culturally-diverse backgrounds. Strategies to support this include:[2-3]
- Enhancing the capacity of health services to deliver palliative care that is flexible, individualised and delivered in the person and family’s setting of choice
- Ensuring that the care facility or setting is appropriate for all populations, including physical access, accommodation options, artwork, signage etc
- Respecting the role of families and communities in decision-making and provision of care
- Ensuring that organisational policies, structures, systems and cultures are inclusive and support person and family-centred care
- Ensuring that staff are formally trained in being culturally-responsive to the needs of all communities.
In addition to this, providing trauma-aware, healing-informed approaches to care further supports access to palliative care. This includes consideration of: [4]
- Ensuring that the physical and psychological safety of the person and their family is addressed
- The person and their family have choice and control
- Making decisions in collaboration with the person and their family and sharing power
- Establishing consistent boundaries and being clear about what is expected with regard to tasks
- Focusing on the person and their family’s strengths and empowering them to build on the skills they have to manage care and make decisions.
Thinking Points
- List strategies that could be used to improve access to healthcare services by people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
- Discuss strategies for education and support that support cultural safety.
References
- Australian Government, Department of Health (2020), Exploratory Analysis of Barriers to Palliative Care – Summary Policy Paper.
- PEPA/IPEPA Project. 2022. PEPA/IPEPA Communication Guide: Supporting access to palliative care for everyone.
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (2011) Patient-centred care: Improving quality and safety through partnerships with patients and consumers.
- Wall, E et al, (2016). Trauma-informed care in child/family welfare services. Australian Institute of Family Studies.