Some key resources for health care professionals, as well as people using hospice services or anyone interested in understanding more about palliative and end-of-life care.
Hospice New Zealand
The national organisation representing the country’s hospice services, which are all independently governed and managed at a local level. A central body for hospice information, education and resources.
Visit www.hospice.org.nz
The Knowledge Hub – Growing Together
Provided by Hospice New Zealand and offering online courses, a resource library, and palliative care online lectures and recordings. The aim is to provide health professionals and carers with education and resources to enable the provision of skilled and competent palliative care.
Visit knowledgehub.hospice.org.nz
Palliative Care Handbook
A resource is to help make palliative care understandable for health professionals, providing clear explanations of how to manage issues that can be very challenging. It includes sections on symptom control, drug information and prescribing. This handbook is useful wherever palliative care happens.
Visit www.hospice.org.nz/resources/palliative-care-handbook
Primary Palliative Care Guidelines – 3rd edition 2020
These guidelines are designed for health professionals who provide palliative care outside of the specialist palliative care team, such as Aged Residential Care facilities, hospitals, primary health care providers. These guidelines express the common practice in Northland amongst the palliative care teams, incorporating information from the Palliative Care Handbook with a practical holistic approach to care.
PDF download Primary Palliative Care Guidelines 3rd edition 2020
Te Ara Whakapiri – Care in the Last Days of Life
The support and care of families/whānau, as well as the dying person, is a crucial part of last days of life care. It is best delivered by a multidisciplinary team, supporting everyone involved to identify realistic goals of care and contribute to decision-making, whilst also helping them deal with their own distress.
Te Ara Whakapiri – Care in the Last Days of Life can be used in any care setting to help teams of health care professionals make regular assessments that include reflection, review and critical decision-making in the best interest of the person they are caring for.
Visit www.health.govt.nz/publication/te-ara-whakapiri-principles-and-guidance-last-days-life
Advance Care Planning (Health Quality & Safety Commission)
Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of thinking about, talking about and planning for future health care and end-of-life care.
The Health Quality & Safety Commission website provides information about ACP for clinicians and consumers.
Visit www.hqsc.govt.nz/our-programmes/advance-care-planning
My Advance Care Planning
A free resources in English and te reo Māori to help you and your whānau with conversations about what is important to you and your whānau for current and future health care. It helps you to understand what the future might hold, and say what health care you would or would not want, including end-of-life care.
Go with Grace
Go With Grace is a new resource to guide and support New Zealanders through their experiences with death and dying. For many of us, we choose not to reflect on – or plan for – this moment in time. Go With Grace helps you to better understand and prepare for dying, to provide comfort and peace of mind to both you and your loved ones.
Te Hokinga ā Wairua – End of Life Service
https://www.endoflife.services.govt.nz/welcome
A government resource to find information and services that might be available to you to assist with end of life planning or following the death of a loved one.
Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA or EPOA)
Information about how to plan ahead by making what’s called an enduring power of attorney. An EPA gives someone you trust the power to make decisions for you if you become unable to make or communicate decisions for yourself.
Carer Support Subsidy
The Carer Support Subsidy is financial support available for full-time Carers to take time to themselves as a break from their full-time Carer role. This can mean reimbursement of some of the costs of engaging a support person to care and support the person in need of care or purchases which will provide the Carer with respite.
National Travel Assistance
https://info.health.nz/services-support/national-travel-assistance/
The National Travel Assistance Scheme is financial support for people who need to travel long distances or travel frequently for specialist treatment. Information here includes who is eligible, what NTA covers, and how to make a claim.
TimeOut Holiday Homes
TimeOut is a charity that connects holiday home owners with a person diagnosed with an incurable illness to help families spend invaluable time together and create lasting memories.
Eldernet – Aged Residential Care
https://www.eldernet.co.nz/knowledge-lab/residential-care
Here, you’ll find information about the different care options available in most residential care facilities in New Zealand (including rest homes, dementia and hospital level care), how care is paid for, and insight into what you can expect from living in a care home.
Carers NZ
Carers NZ are a national not-for-profit network working to provide information, advice, learning and support for carers in our network, for every step of your caring journey.
Ending Life Well Podcast
This podcast series is for New Zealand family carers who are faced with caring for a loved one who is dying. Developed by the specialist palliative team at Otago Community Hospice and supported by Hospice New Zealand, the series provides reliable palliative advice and information for carers who may find themselves out of their depth caring for someone nearing end of life.