$30 million funding for QUT palliative care projects

Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler announced a total of $68 million in funding for 14 National Palliative Care Projects, which included three QUT projects:

• $12.5 million for Palliative Care Education and Training Collaborative;
• $900,000 for End of Life Law for Clinicians; 
• $15.9 for the national End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) service to  improve the palliative care skills and advance care planning expertise of aged care providers and GPs caring for older Australians. 

Distinguished Professor Patsy Yates,  from the QUT Centre for Health Transformation and QUT Centre for Palliative Care and Cancer Outcomes said there was a there was a growing need for palliative care services in the Australian community.

“With an aging population, and more people dying from diseases such as dementia or chronic conditions which typically have a prolonged trajectory, there is an always increasing need for palliative care,” Professor Yates said.

“This pressure means there is strong demand for all health and aged care workers to be trained to cope with the complexity of care.

“These projects build on QUT’s long-standing research that has focused on developing innovative approaches to ensuring high quality palliative care services are accessible to all in our community.”

The End of Life Law for Clinicians course is a result of years of research by Professors Ben White and Lindy Willmott from the Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR) on health professionals’ knowledge of end-of-life law.

The course was developed with Professor Yates and health law researcher Professor Shih-Ning Then.

Professor Willmott said not understanding the law causes anxiety and risks for health professionals.

“It’s important for health professionals to understand the law at such an emotionally charged time, and important for the patient that their legal rights and end of life choices are followed when they die,” Professor Willmott said.

Photo: from left, Distinguished Professor Patsy Yates, Professor Lindy Willmott and Professor Ben White.

Media contact:

Rod Chester, QUT Media, 07 3138 9449, rod.chester@qut.edu.au

After hours: 0407 585 901, media@qut.edu.au