Prof Liz Reymond

Prof Liz Reymond MBBS(Hons), PhD, FRACGP, FAChPM
Deputy Director, Metro South Palliative Care Services (MSPCS)

Dr Reymond holds the position of Deputy Director, Metro South Palliative Care Services (MSPCS). MSPCS provides inpatient, outpatient and community-based care across Metro South Health (MSH). She is also Director of the Brisbane South Palliative Care Collaborative, the research and education arm of MSPCS. Her research interests include palliative care symptom management, advance care planning (ACP), and service delivery and development. Liz is currently directing the Queensland-wide Office of ACP, the Improving End-of-Life Care for Residential Aged Care Facility Residents Initiative (in collaboration with Brisbane South PHN), and the national caring@home project to improve the quality of palliative care service delivery across Australia to support people to be cared for and to die at home, if that is their choice.

Presentation
Supporting patient choices for end-of-life care at home

caring@home, a national palliative care project funded by the Australian Government, aims to improve the quality of palliative care service delivery across Australia by providing resources that support carers to help manage breakthrough symptoms safely using subcutaneous medicines.

Many people, in the terminal stage, are admitted to in-patient facilities because their symptoms cannot be adequately controlled at home. Often, towards the end of life, breakthrough symptoms need to be managed using subcutaneous medicines. Research indicates that carers who are supported with standardised education and resources, tailored to their needs, can confidently, safely and competently manage subcutaneous medicines to relieve breakthrough symptoms in home-based palliative care patients.1,2 caring@home resources, applicable to all jurisdictions in Australia, are freely available in hard copy or electronic form via the caring@home website.

Resources include:
For service providers
• Guidelines for the handling of palliative care medications in community services, developed by NPS
MedicineWise
• Example policy and procedures: Supporting carers to help manage breakthrough symptoms safely using
subcutaneous medicines in the home

For healthcare professionals
• palliMEDS- A smartphone app for primary prescribers to assist with palliative medicine prescribing
• Online education modules for registered nurses about how to use the caring@home resources to train
carers

For carers
• A comprehensive package for carers containing step-by-step guides, a handbook, a medicines diary,
training videos, a practice demonstration kit and a colour-coded labelling system (including syringe labels)

The caring@home resources enable a consistent approach to teaching carers to give subcutaneous
medicines and support the provision of home based patient-centred care for people who would prefer to be cared for and, if possible, to die at home.

References:
1. National Institute for Health Research, Journals Library. CARer-ADministration of as-needed sub-cutaneous medication for breakthrough symptoms in home-based dying patients: a UK study (CARiAD). Available from: https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/hta/151037/#/. [Accessed 6 February 2017].
2.Healy S, Reymond L. Delivering quality care for palliative care patients. Scientia. 2015. Available from:http://www.scientia.global/sue-healy-professor-liz-reymond-delivering-quality-care-for-palliative-care-patients/. [Accessed 7 February 2017].