Palliative Care for Elderly Patients and Their Families

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Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Aged Care
World health organization (WHO) defines palliative care as a methodology that aims at
improving the lives of aged patients and their families at large facing the complications that
are linked to illness that is life-threatening. These can be made possible through the
mitigation and respite of grief through early recognition and impeccable appraisal by
management of the pain. The symptoms that are experienced by the patient and submitted to
treatment include psychosocial, physical, and spiritual illness. Aged patient’s symptoms may
need better palliation as death approaches (Burkett & Scott, 2015). Support should be
provided to the dying patient’s family as comfort measures are being intensified. This essay
illustrates the palliative measures that are being taken to the relieve suffering of elderly
patients together with their families.
Palliative Care Provision
In cases of the worst scenario the elderly patient dies, the palliative care will shift its entire
focus on bereavement and providing support to the family that has lost its love one (Fitch,
Fliedner, & O’Connor, 2015). Palliative upkeep has proven to be more beneficial in various
ways. Therefore, it aids the family to make significant medical decisions. Moreover, it aims
at anticipating, preventing, diagnosing, and treating signs and symptoms that the patients may
have experienced. The focal target of the palliative care system is to improve the quality of
life of both the patient and the family as well regardless of the patient’s diagnosis (Martin,
Hayes, Gregorevic & Lim, 2016). Palliative care reduces pain, fatigue, nausea in the aged
patients that suffer from chronic illness as well progresses quality of patient’s life, which is a
long term beneficiary effect.
The palliative home care measure is fundamental to the aged since it gives them the
chance to stay at home in a more familiar environment as compared to the hospital
environment (Frey, Boyd, Foster, Robinson & Gott, 2016). This type of environment reduces

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their rate of depression; as a result, they will visit the emergency rooms a few times.
Families, at times, find it challenging to take care of the elder members of their families who
have chronic illness due to commitments and engagements. Thus, professional caregiving can
relieve them from that duty and pressure for their loved ones during the final month.
Research has proven that the majority of elderly patients who are nearing the end of their
lives spend their last moments in the hospital, which makes them feel lonely and helpless.
Palliative home care provides them emotional and physical support to prolong their lives
(Smedbäck et al., 2017).
Residential Health Care
Residential health care is a type of care that has been established to take care of the aged
people who can no longer take shelter at their homes and are always regarded as a vulnerable
group. This facility provides them progressive support care that comprises of aid with routine
activities and individual care to 24 hours of treatment care. The residential aged services in
Victoria are being overseen by the Commonwealth Government. The Aged Care Act 1997
(the Act) governs the residential aged care in Australia. An approximate of 200 000
Australians stay or live in residential aged care due to the growing population of older people.
In Australia, there is an estimate of 2,672 residential aged care facilities (Broad et al., 2015).
Residential care services can be provided under respite or permanent basis. The residential
respite is short care that is provided to the elderly during emergencies in aged care facilities,
and approval has to be made before the services are offered to them.
The residential elderly care provides accommodation and amenities to the aged population
that require continuing nursing and health care as a result of lack of self- independence in
daily activities and critical impairments (Chapman, Johnston, Lovell & Liu, 2018). These
facilities offer a variety of services that constitute supervision, nursing, or any other
additional care that the patient may be in need.

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They are some of the challenges that the residential elderly care faces during the
administration of palliative care. Therefore, the permanent inhabitants occasionally have
difficulty during communication or dementia and comorbidities (AIHW 2015). Majority of
the permanent residents diagnose chronic degenerative diseases as compared to patients in
hospice that often diagnose cancer (Gribich et al. 2005).
Discussion
The Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) facilitates in the data collection that is utilised
to establish the quantity of subventions of perpetual residents in Australia. The data below
encompass a section that was recorded in 2016, which indicates the perpetual residents that
require palliative care under (ACFI). The percentage that results in palliative care in elderly
individuals rises with the age of the residents. 23.2% of the permanent residents that receive
palliative care are often analysed with cancer. The type of cancer majorly affects the people is
lung cancer (17.4%) and prostate cancer (21.9%). On the other hand, the inner local areas
have the maximum rate of the palliative upkeep amid the permanent residents (69%) while
majority cities and outer region comprise of (32.2%) and (38.8%) of the simultaneously per
100, 000 population.
There was a similarity that was noted in the age profile of the permanent resident that
requires palliative care during 2014- 2015. A typical example is that one- quarter of the
people ranged between 75-84 and 60% of the aged population was 85 years and above.
Permanent admissions are regarded as the permanent residents who joined the care facility
between 2014 -2015 and were acquainted with entail palliative care. The figure below
indicates a perpetual residential elderly care and permanent admittances reviewed as
demanding palliative care between 2014 -2015 (AIHW, 2015).