Thursdays@3 by Palliative Care Australia

Thursdays@3 by Palliative Care Australia

di Palliative Care Australia

Stagione 2

Building Derek's legacy

Thursdays at 3 is back for another round of conversations with people living and working at the end of life. In this episode we hear from someone who has experienced both through the death of her husband Derek in 2019 and today as the CEO of a charity shaping family friendly end of life options. Derek died in August of 2019 after a 23-month battle with aggressive brain cancer – he was just one month short of his 36th birthday. Click play to meet his wife Natasha Welsh and hear of their family's experience and the legacy Natasha is now helping to shape. You will find advice, tools, and support for ‘matters of life and death’ at the Palliative Care Australia website and to support Natasha and the vision she has for Derek’s Place click HERE. Natasha is also a member of PCA’s National Register of Palliative Care Consumers and Carers group and can be engaged for advice through PCA.

Stagione 1

Why you should start advance care planning now?

A special episode this Thursday (23 March) to mark Advance Care Planning Week. “Advance care planning is something that unfolds over a lifetime,” says Dr Will Cairns, a palliative medicine specialist with decades of experience. Will is currently Consultant Emeritus Palliative Medicine at Townsville University Hospital and Associate Professor, James Cook University. This Thursday@3 Will reflects on his professional and personal experience with Advance Care Planning, “the normalisation of death is a really important part of learning how to deal with the realities and limits of health care,” he says. For further advice on the requirements in your State or Territory visit the Advance Care Planning website.

Life, Death and Music

With over forty years’ experience in nursing our guest today, Rose Sexton has seen a thing or two! Her passion for palliative and end of life care emerged early, with active interest in Oncology nursing. She completed post graduate studies in palliative care in 2011 and currently works for Northeast Health in Wangaratta, Victoria, in community palliative care. Alongside these health-related passions, she is, at heart, a musician and actress. With Salvation Jane, the four-piece acapella group she founded over 30 years ago, she happily sings about dying and going to heaven! Salvation Jane will play at the National Folk Festival in Canberra over Easter. Rose has also had personal experience in caring for her husband through his end-of-life journey in 2019. Press play to join the conversation.

In conversation with Nurse Practitioner of the Year 2022

In this episode we chat to the 2022 Nurse Practitioner of the Year no less – Peter Jenkin. Peter’s nursing career and commitment to palliative care starts well before last year’s award from the Australian College of Nurse Practitioners. For 11 years, and only up until recently he was a Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner for Resthaven aged care in South Australia. However, in early 2023, Peter moved to Canberra to take up a position with Calvary Health Care as a Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner working in aged care and at the ACT’s hospice, Clare Holland House. With aged care and health reform more broadly high on the Government's agenda, Peter has some clear advice on how Nurse Practitioners can be better utilised to deliver quality of life but is strident in his view that “palliative care should be everyone's business.”

Making memories last

In this episode we drop in on regional NSW and the central west town of Orange, where one family’s experience with serious illness has led to a new online business that helps families gather and store memories, plan funeral arrangements and leave a final message for loved ones. Bec McLaurin’s professional background is in HR but time with her kids and an experience with family illness has led to ‘MyFarvel.com. Bec believes making a plan for the end of life, discussing funeral arrangements, and even leaving a message for loved ones is the work of now – the work of the living, and established MyFarvel to help families do just that. Bec’s website is one of a range of tools that support end of life conversations and planning, but her families experience highlights the joy and strength that can come from what might a confronting process at first. Click play to join the conversation. Whether you are tuning in via Spotify, YouTube or one of the socials, thanks for taking an interest and being part of Thursdays@3.

A palliative perspective on aged care

In this episode we meet Sallie Fredericks, a Registered Nurse who has worked in palliative care in the Illawarra region of NSW for over thirty years. For the last 10 years Sallie has worked exclusively in aged care as a Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Consultant and is currently a Nurse Educator for a local aged care service. Click play to hear from Sallie as she talks about the need to make palliative care an embedded practise in aged care, the need for palliative care training for nurses, doctors and allied health professionals, and her reflections on what death has taught her about life.

In conversation with Professor David Currow, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wollongong

Today we meet Professor David Currow, who you might already know through his long career in cancer care and research and palliative care. David is currently a Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wollongong. He is the former Chief Cancer Officer for New South Wales and former Chief Executive Officer of the Cancer Institute of NSW. Before that, he was the foundation Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia, the Australian Government’s cancer control agency. David is a previous president of Palliative Care Australia and, separately, the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia. In 2015, David received the Tom Reeve National Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Care. David co-founded the Australian National Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration - a national data set for quality improvement in palliative care. And this September in Sydney, David will be one of our presenters at the Oceanic Palliative Care Conference (OPCC). Click play to get a sneak peek of his OPCC presentation - ‘The future of palliative care in the care economy’ while exploring his rich career. David is one of 215 OPCC speakers, explore the program and register now before the August 18 price rise – HERE. You will find advice, tools, and support ‘with matters of life and death’ at the Palliative Care Australia website where you can also make a donation to support our work.

Providing hospice care in regional Queensland

In this episode, we head to regional Queensland, dropping in on Fraser Coast Hospice a community run six bed purpose-built facility, south of Bundaberg at Hervey Bay; K'gari, formally known as Fraser Island, is not far away. As with any community led initiative, there is a lot of heart and soul that went into making Fraser Coast Hospice a reality, not to mention the heart and soul that makes up the support they offer people with life-limiting illness and their family and friends, during the last months, weeks, and days of life. “We create the normality that people have at home – we have the laughter and the tears,” says Director of Care, Alicia Trimingham-Turl. “We have a balance between life and living it till the very end, but also that respect for the loss of very loved people.” Click play to join the conversation.

The Essence of Spiritual Care

In this episode we launch online training that aims to highlight the power of spirituality in the delivery of health and palliative care and support the health professionals and spiritual care practitioners who do this work. Reflecting on their own experiences, we hear from South Australia’s Sara Fleming, a Nurse Practitioner, who comes to this conversation with a 23 year career in palliative care. And Luke Bowen, Chair of the Spiritual Health Association. Luke is also Director of Patient Safety, Experience and Clinical Excellence and Director of Medical Workforce at Austin Health, Victoria.

Palliative care in a war zone

In this episode meet Victorian based palliative care physiotherapist and researcher - Rachel Coghlan. In reflecting on her work as a physio in palliative care, Rachel talks about supporting people to get outside and walk, garden, breath fresh air, and keep fulfilling their life goals as they face death. She says, “How I get them there is physiotherapy, why I get them there is palliative care.” Through the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership at Deakin University, Rachel is also exploring the delivery of palliative care during times of emergency and crises, with a focus on communities experiencing armed conflict. She has just returned from war torn Gaza in the Middle East as part of her PhD studies and seen the power of community first hand. Hit play to get a better understanding of the wisdom and work of Rachel Coghlan.

5 di 6