Changing views of palliative care

AN innovative state-wide awareness campaign is being launched to challenge perceptions of palliative care.

The multimedia ‘Palliative Care - It’s more than you think.’ campaign has been created by Palliative Care Tasmania, with the support of the Tasmanian Government, to engage the community in a conversation about the benefits of palliative care.

The campaign seeks to challenge perceptions that palliative care is a ‘last resort’, and will help Tasmanians better understand that palliative care helps people living with a life-limiting illness to live as well as they can by managing pain and symptoms, ensuring their quality of life is maintained.

The campaign features a series of animated vignettes that remove any hospital beds, tubes or doctor’s appointments and instead focus on the possibilities palliative care can provide, depicting activities not usually associated with palliative care such as golfing, fishing, gardening, travelling and even parachuting.

“Palliative care really is more than you think,” Palliative Care Tasmania Board chair Sally Faulkner said.

“It’s for anyone of any age – from babies to older adults – who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, and it can be provided alongside curative treatments, or when those treatments have ended.

“The campaign is aimed at informing, empowering and encouraging Tasmanians living with a life-limiting illness to engage with their health care professionals early in their diagnosis, so as to live as well as possible for as long as possible.

“People need to know that palliative care is available to anyone with a life-limiting illness, regardless of their postcode, diagnosis, age, ethnicity, socio-economic status or place of care.”

The campaign, which will roll out statewide over the next three months, also invites Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and multicultural communities across Tasmania to start a conversation around palliative care to break down some of the misconceptions and raise awareness of the services available.

As part of the initiative, a suite of resources have been created to help people through those challenging but potentially powerful moments connected to the end of life. The resources are available in 11 languages.

The campaign website, https:// morethanyouthink.org. au/ explains clearly and simply what palliative care is, who it is for, who can provide it, and where palliative care can be provided, along with answers to frequently asked questions.