Palliative Care in Residential Aged Care: Evaluation, Legal Considerations, and Ethical Issues

Running head: PALLIATIVE CARE
PALLIATIVE CARE
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Introduction:
The life expectancy of the people in the nation of Australia has increased in an
astonishing manner. Studies have found that from the year of 1981 to that of 2003, life
expectancy in the nation at birth had increased more rapidly than most other high income
developed countries in the nation. It has been found from the last data collected in the year 2016,
that life expectancy of boys are (Thomas et al., 2017) 80.4 years while that of girls are 84.6 years
for girls. It can b found that since the year of 2006, the overall life expectancy had increased
slowly but steadily by 1.7 years for the males and by 1.1 years for the females. This had been
possible for medical and scientific advancements in healthcare as well as technological
innovation in healthcare industry. Although people are living longer lives, their quality of life
had been reported to have decreased. As people are aging, they are living with more number of
chronic disorders which are often ill-managed by patients and families. Hence, towards the end
of life, healthcare conditions of people become too low in quality with increased pain and
suffering due to loss of independence, loss of mobility, loss of capability to conduct activities of
daily life and even management of the disorders (Jansson, Dixon & Hatcher, 2017). Death by
such conditions results in not only physical stress on patients but also impact families
emotionally and mentally. Therefore, as the population is aging, their numbers entering into the
aged care increase and therefore the demand for end of life as well as palliative care is also
increasing. For most of such people, entering into the aged residential care facility becomes their
last home and this makes the palliative care and end of life care an integral part of their care
requirements (Hudson et al., 2015). The healthcare professionals need to ensure the availability
of high quality palliative care as well as end-of life care services in such services and facilities
would help more older people to have goo death, receive better support for their families as well

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as their caregivers during the dying and bereavement process. This assignment would reflect in
different aspects of palliative care services to shed more light on the importance of the service
and how professionals need to be knowledgeable in providing them to ensure better death of the
people.
Evaluation of palliative care in residential aged care:
The World Health Organization explain the palliative care as an approach that includes
the quality of life of the individuals as well as their families who are facing issues associated
with life threatening disorders. This form of care mainly includes the prevention as well as relief
of suffering by the different means of early identification and impeccable assessment and
treatment of pain along with different physical, spiritual and psychosocial treatment. A number
of important benefits had been identified which remain associated with the palliative care
services (Bruera et al., 2015). They provide relief to the individuals from that of pain as well as
other distressing symptoms. It helps in affirming life as well as regarding dying as the normal
process along with harboring of the intention neither to hasten nor postpone the death of the
suffering individuals. The nursing professionals would be integrating the psychological as well
as spiritual aspects of the patient care offering support system to the patient in ways that would
enable the patient to live as actively as much as possible until the time of death. The palliative
care services provide a support system for helping the families to cope effectively about the
illness of the patient and thereby manage their own bereavement. The healthcare professionals
mainly follow a team-based approach where they can address the needs of the patients as well as
their families that even included bereavement counseling (Masso et al., 2015). All these are seen
to enhance the quality of life and also positively influence the course of illness. It is also
important for understanding the philosophy that underpins palliative care. The underlying

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philosophy of the palliative care approach comprises of a positive as well as open attitudes
towards death as well as dying along with the promotion of a more open approach towards the
discussion of death as well as the dying procedure that included the aged care team and residents
and families which help in facilitating identification of their wishes regarding end of life care. It
must be however remembered that a palliative approach never remains confined to that of the
end of life stages of the illness (Hawley, 2017). In, place researchers opine that this care services
put more focus on the active comfort care and even the positive approach for reduction of the
symptoms and distress of the individuals thereby facilitating the resident’s as well as the family
member’s understanding that they are actively supported through the procedures. Studies have
already found that palliative care help in the improvement of the symptoms of pain, suffering and
depression and also supports families in gradually coping up and getting adhered to the concept
of death and the dying process. This helps in making it easier for family members to prepare
themselves to accept the death of the older people, thereby protecting them from sudden shocks
and development if depression. Mills (2016) has stated that in addition to that of the offering the
patients standard medications for pain and the different symptoms, palliative care professionals
also mainly teach patients the various types of the non-pharmaceutical approaches for managing
their own health. They provide spiritual care through effective referrals to concerned experts as
well as counsel them in times of psychological turmoil.
Critical discussion of advanced care directives in residential aged care:
Advanced care directives can be described as the formal as well as the legally endorsed
documents often referred as the living wills that state instructions for the care to be implemented
in the event of the future decisional capacities. Advanced care directives are mainly the process
of the advance care planning. Researchers opine that the proper use of the advance care