Patients & Carers
Nursing And Medical Services
Specialist palliative care nurses provide planned visits Monday to Friday with weekend visits scheduled as required.
A 24 hour on-call telephone support service is available to patients who are admitted on to our program.
Nursing care is aimed at relieving symptoms and promoting comfort to enhance quality of life.
Nurses work with other team members to respond to the needs of patients and their caregivers through assessment, planning, education and clinical care.
Family & Carers Support
Family Support Workers are qualified social workers, psychologists and pastoral care workers who have experience working with people facing life-limiting illnesses.
Support is available to the patient, family and caregivers and continues for family and caregivers through their bereavement.
What Do Family Support Workers Offer?
- Support for the caregivers, including advocating on their behalf
- Opportunities for the patient to discuss what matters to them
- Information on how to gain access to community supports, eg. home help, personal and respite care
- Counselling support for the patient and caregivers
- Bereavement support
Our daily care services
Family Support is person centered and concerned with the spiritual, physical, emotional and social aspect of a person’s wellbeing. Spiritual care supports people as they explore issues through the journey of life until death. This can relate to attitude, beliefs, values or formal religious structures. Physical care can assist with practical issues that make day to day living easier in the patient’s home. Emotional care focuses on feelings that can occur as a result of illness. Counselling support can help develop personal strategies to understand and manage these feelings. Social care assists the patient to maintain important links with their community and family.
Health Therapies
Health Therapies provide a dimension to palliative care that supports and complements existing treatments. Having the power to touch the inner self, these therapies help the patient towards a natural state of physical, emotional and spiritual balance.
Massage Therapy In Palliative Care
Providing massage for people with a terminal illness requires modifications in technique. Our massage therapists have undertaken extensive training to safely meet the particular needs of our palliative patients.
As an integral part of our interdisciplinary approach to care, Massage Therapy has been a highly valued service at PCP. Evidence shows that massage provided to people receiving palliative care is both safe and beneficial. Our massage therapists are dedicated to contributing to the quality of life of our patients and their carers.
The benefits of massage may include, but are not limited to:
Reducing the side effects of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and some medications
Easing the discomfort of fluid retention (Oedema/Lymphoedema)
Lessening the impact of pain and shortness of breath
Improving mobility
Reducing tension, anxiety and depression
Encouraging restful sleep
Enhancing physical comfort and emotional wellbeing.
Our massage therapists provide their services in the comfort and safety of our patient’s homes where massage can be given wherever it is most comfortable to receive, for example, seated in a recliner or resting in bed.
Occupational Therapy
Our Occupational Therapists can:
Conduct assessments with you and/or your carers to identify whether you are experiencing any problems completing your daily activities and determine how to make your home suitable for you as your needs change.
Assist with managing tasks and advice about suitable equipment.
Provide information about equipment suppliers in the area and other community services who could assist with home modifications.
Provide education and advice regarding pressure care, shortness of breath, fatigue, etc.