What is Palliative Care?

BaptistCare's Palliative Care Approach

At BaptistCare, we provide person-centred care across our services. Residents, families and staff work together with open communication to achieve a clear understanding of the resident’s care goals, symptom management at each stage of their illness and to reduce potential distress, particularly in end-of-life care -the final stage of palliative care.

End-of-life care: Achieving a ‘positive death’

While a positive death is not often spoken about in aged care settings, it’s something we all want for ourselves and our loved ones, and something our teams work hard to achieve for every resident. We want to see residents have a positive, dignified death, surrounded by loved ones and our caring staff.

For Jill Dexter and her team at BaptistCare Carey Gardens, delivering genuine care and respect for the resident, provides peace for the family as well. “It’s never just about the resident, it’s about the family too. To give reassurance, kindness and just showing that you care for people goes a long way. Even in dying you can have a positive death. This happens by building strong relationships with the resident and their family. I believe every death here has been a positive death,” said Jill.

Your palliative care journey with us

We know palliative care isn’t just about the illness or deteriorating health. It’s about supporting you and your family on the journey. BaptistCare uses a unique ‘Affirm, Balance, Comfort’ approach where we discuss your choices on admission and throughout your stay to involve you in decisions around end-of-life care. This allows us to adapt your care plan to suit your changing needs and brings great comfort to you and your family.

You can explore more about our three stages of planning and the meaningful conversations that you and your loved one can expect to have with our team.

For us, it’s always about delivering the best possible care regardless of the stage you or your loved one is experiencing. “There’s times I feel sadness with all the losses experienced in aged care, and everyone touches me in some way. It’s at the end of their life, and if I see someone being kept comfortable, with the support of family and staff, it puts my mind at rest that we’re still doing the best care even at this end stage,” said Jill.

How do you gain access to palliative care?

At BaptistCare, we believe everyone deserves to live as well as possible for as long as possible with access to genuine care and the right to a positive and dignified death. Because we care. If you are at the beginning of your or your loved one’s palliative care journey, our team is here to help you.

You can view our aged care home locations or call 1300 275 227 to speak to one of our friendly and helpful team members.

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