Who will care for you?

Role

Palliative care responsibility

Senior medical specialists

Provide specialist medical palliative care, and work with the other members of the palliative care team.

Specialist palliative care nurses

Provide complex care to enhance patient quality of life and support families.

Social workers

Assist patients to make their own healthcare decisions.

Support and counsel patients and families.

Help them access other services, (for example, Centrelink, Carer's Respite).

Pastoral care staff

Provide sensitive spiritual and emotional support, sacramental ministries, advance directive consultation and other services for patients and their families.

Occupational therapists

Enable people to participate in daily activities by educating the patient and families, and arranging equipment and home modifications.

Speech pathologists

Provide assessment, diagnosis, rehabilitation and support for individuals who have diseases that affect their ability to swallow or speak.

Physiotherapists

Help patients maintain physical function, independence and comfort.

Play an important role in surgery or illness rehabilitation.

Palliative care volunteers

Share their time with people living with life-limiting illness by offering care and support to the patient.

Music therapists

Access music therapy to express feelings, reduce stress and anxiety and promote relaxation.

Volunteers

Palliative care volunteers have committed to sharing their time with people living with life-limiting illness. Their role is to offer care and support to both the person with the life-limiting illness and those close to that person.

Care is tailored to each person’s needs, and may include:

• Emotional support
• Practical assistance in the home
• Transport to and from appointments
• Basic massage
• Respite visits to allow carers to take a break
• Bereavement support.

They cannot administer any medications or perform nursing duties or personal care. They will also not perform domestic duties (such as cleaning).