Guidelines for a Palliative Approach in Residential Aged Care

to a ‘responsible person’ (e.g. family member) when this is necessary for care and treatment or on
compassionate grounds. The aged care team can use professional judgement when defining the
responsible person to ensure that anxiety about privacy laws are not used as a means of excluding
caregiving family and friends from appropriate health information.
Care should be taken to ensure that all the steps are documented regarding a resident’s
treatment decisions. These decisions need to be regularly assessed to ensure that they are current
for the resident. It is also important that the aged care team be guided by legislation and other
relevant documents and standards regarding what should be recorded on the resident’s file, who
should have access to these records, and how these documents are to be stored.
Guideline:
Dignity and quality of life
5. Factors that contribute to a person’s sense of dignity are a sense of control,
strengthened relationships with loved ones, the capacity to communicate,
recognising friends and family members, being continent, adequate pain
and symptom management, and avoiding inappropriate prolongation of
dying. These factors are addressed by aged care team members when a
palliative approach is implemented, thus enhancing the resident’s dignity
and his / her quality of life.
6. The provision of dignity-maintaining care can facilitate a more hopeful
outlook for the resident, thus reducing the resident’s desire for a
hastened death.
Ref No.
58
57
13
63
64
Evidence
level
III-3
IV
QE
IV
QE
Guidelines for a Palliative Approach in Residential Aged Care 53