Palliative Care Education Videos

Found 8 videos.

Deprescribing Psychotropics

Tuesday 29 April 2025

The overuse of antidepressants and psychiatric medications is a growing concern for healthcare and regulatory bodies, including the NDIS Commission and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Both the Disability and Aged Care Royal Commissions have called for efforts to reduce this overuse.

Stopping these medications safely has been neglected in psychiatric teaching, leading to significant harm from severe and prolonged withdrawal effects. The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines aim to address this gap.

Withdrawal effects are more common and severe than previously recognized, with some people experiencing debilitating protracted withdrawal syndromes. These effects can be mistaken for a relapse or new condition, highlighting the need for better recognition and distinction.

Advances in the science of stopping antidepressants have led to updated UK guidelines on gradual, hyperbolic tapering.

Target Audience: GPs, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals, Pharmacists, any prescribers or clinicians that have regular contact with people using psychotropic medications

Learning Outcomes:

Identify when, why and in whom to stop antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs
Describe the risks of stopping these medications too quickly
Distinguish between withdrawal effects from these drugs and relapse of an underlying condition
Apply the latest principles in safe tapering to stopping these drugs classes, adjusted to the individual patient

Speakers:

Dr. Mark Horowitz MBBS PhD is a Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry with the NHS in England and a Visiting Lecturer in Psychopharmacology at King’s College London. He holds a PhD in the neurobiology of depression and antidepressant action.

Dr. Horowitz is the lead author of the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines and co-authored the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ guidance on ‘Stopping Antidepressants’. His work has informed NICE guidelines on safe tapering of psychiatric medications. He has published papers in top journals and is an Associate Editor of Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology. His personal experience with psychiatric medication withdrawal has greatly influenced his work.

Resources:

Dr Mark Horowitz Presentation – Deprescribing Psychotropics

RACGP Link to guidelines: Maudlsey Deprescribing Guidelines

Healthy End of Life Planning and Pro-active End-of-Life Care and Prescribing

Thursday 10 April 2025

This webinar shares detailed information on the Healthy End of Life Planning (HELP) App developed by La Trobe University and caring@home’s Prompts for End-of-Life Planning (PELP) Framework, National Core Community Palliative Care Medicines List and palliMEDS app.

Healthy End of Life Planning (HELP): Staying connected and accessing support from informal care networks is essential as we age and reach the end of life. The HELP app is part of an evidence based palliative care social prescribing model that is activating these support networks across Australia. This session will explore how health professionals can support this essential aspect of care as part of routine practice.

Pro-active end-of-life care: caring@home has developed a framework to support GPs to provide quality, person-centred care that aligns with the patient’s preferences – The Prompts for End-of-Life (PELP) framework.

This framework identifies four clinical end of life processes including:

Advance care planning and person-centred care based on need (at risk of dying)
Transition of focus of care needs from restorative to palliative (likely to die soon)
Terminal care needs (dying) After death care (bereavement).

GPs also need to be adept in providing effective symptom control to patients in their last weeks of life. The palliMEDS app support GPs to provide optimal symptom management to their patients in the community.

A subset of this list the is the National Core Community Palliative Care Medicines List which identifies four medicines for use by home-based palliative patients in the terminal phase who require urgent symptom relief.

Learning Outcomes:

Describe the benefits of Healthy End of Life Planning (HELP)
Describe the concept of palliative care social prescribing
Implement a framework of palliative care to support timely planning and high-quality care for patients with a life-limiting illness
Use the palliMEDS app to support prescribing for common symptoms in the terminal phase
Identify 4 core palliative care medicines to support access to medicines in the community for urgent situations.

Speakers:

Prof Liz Reymond MBBS(Hons), PhD, FRACGP, FAChPM – Professor Reymond is Director of the national caring@home project. She is Co-Director of the Queensland Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning and PallConsult clinician support service. Liz offers education and training on end-of-life care to members of the community and clinicians across Queensland.

Niki Read, Public Health Palliative Care Unit, La Trobe University – Niki Read from the Public Health Palliative Care Unit at La Trobe University will outline the HELP Social Prescribing Service Model and present the latest research showing real benefits of network-centered-care at end of life.

More Information:

Download the HELP App today – https://healthyendoflifeprogram.org/help-app/

Caring@home apps – https://www.caringathomeproject.com.au/for-health-professionals/mobile-apps

A Comprehensive Approach to Managing Dementia and Frailty in Older Adults

Tuesday 18 March 2025

This recording considers a wholistic team approach to managing dementia in the community and supporting prevention of deteriorating health including frailty incidence.

How do we use preventative strategies such as physical activity to slow the progression of both diseases? At what stage does dementia impact the management of frailty?

Topics Covered:

National Dementia Action Plan 2024-2034
Managing patients with dementia and frailty
Implementing Home Medication Reviews
Lifestyle modifications and their impact on people with dementia and frailty

TARGET AUDIENCE:

GP’s, Practice Managers, Practice Nurses, Pharmacists and Allied Health Professionals working in General Practice in the Northern Sydney Region

Learning Outcomes:

Analyse the impact of physical activity and lifestyle modifications at various stages of dementia, and develop comprehensive, patient-centered support plans that leverage a multidisciplinary team approach
Evaluate and innovate clinical practices for managing this cohort
Develop strategies for Home Medication Reviews and deprescribing

Speakers:

Prof Maria Fiatarone Singh, Geriatrician – Maria is a geriatrician specialising in the integration of medicine, exercise physiology, and nutrition to enhance health and quality of life. She has held the John Sutton Chair of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Sydney since 1999. She has led numerous clinical trials and studies in Australia and the USA, focusing on exercise and chronic disease prevention and treatment.
Georgette Yassa, Pharmacist
Trina Colita, Dementia/Aged Care CNC, Northern Sydney Home Nursing Service
Hema Patel, Primary Care Advancement Coordinator, SNHN
Debra Clark, Aged Care Lead, SNHN

Healthy End of Life Planning (HELP) App for the Palliative Care Workforce

Thursday 25 July 2024

Palliative Care services are essential for delivering the best care for people at end of life but we can’t do it all. We need to encourage our clients and their families to have a system in place to access additional support from their friends and community.

The Healthy End of Life Planning (HELP) App is a free resource designed to coordinate this support for people in palliative and aged care settings. More about the HELP APP: • The HELP APP | Healthy End of Life Pl…

Learning Outcomes:

Viewers will gain:

Strong understanding of network centered care and how this improves end of life experiences
Insight into palliative care social prescribing and the HELP App
Confidence in delivering the social prescribing model to patients and families as part of routine practice

Speakers:

Holly Smith – Public Health Palliative Care Unit, La Trobe University

Sally Brown – Public Health Palliative Care Unit, La Trobe University

More Information:

TARGET AUDIENCE: GPs, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals, Aged Care Health Professionals, Staff and Palliative Care workforce across the Sydney North Health Network region

Let’s Get to the Bottom of IAD and PI’s in Aged Care

Thursday 8 June 2023

This webinar is designed to help you understand the implications of pressure injuries(PI’s) and incontinence associated dermatitis (IAD) and how these apply to the new Department of Health and Aged Care quality indicators introduced on the 1st April 2023.

In this webinar, participants will:
• Find out more about the scope of the problem in aged care
• Identify the difference between IAD and PIs
• Learn about prevention and management strategies for IAD

Speakers:

Dr Michelle Gibb | Founder and Director of Wound Specialist Services

Michelle is a nationally and internationally recognised wound expert and nurse leader with a passion for improving patient outcomes. Michelle has a Doctor of Philosophy, Masters of Nursing Science (Nurse Practitioner), Masters of Wound Care, Bachelor of Nursing and almost 20 years’ career experience in the specialty of wounds in a range of health service contexts. Michelle is a key opinion leader in the specialty of wounds and is dedicated to improving patient outcomes through her caring and compassionate approach combined with advanced skills gained through extensive experience and education.

Managing Pain: A Comprehensive Collaborative Approach in Residential Aged Care Facilities

Wednesday 7 June 2023

This webinar focuses on the issue of pain in the frail RACF resident. Topics include assessing and recognising pain in the cognitively impaired (including the use of non-verbal pain scales), safe and appropriate prescribing in the frail and elderly, managing pain at the very end of life and opioid conversion principals. Home visiting physiotherapist, Seyed Majlessi, discusses the new model of addressing persistent pain and the collaboration needed for successful outcomes. We also touch on what to look out for to reduce medication misadventures and miscommunication during patient transfers, particularly between hospital and the RACF.

Learning Outcomes:

Assess, recognise and respond to pain in the cognitively impaired patient (including the use of non-verbal pain scales)
Formulate safe and appropriate prescribing in the frail and elderly patients
Implement pain management at the very end of life
Examing opioid conversion principals including different formulations, strength and routes of administration
Discuss new strategies to manage chronic pain

Speakers:

Professor Katherine Clark | Clinical Director of Palliative Care, NSLHD
Professor Clark is the current Clinical Director for Northern Sydney Local Health District. Katy is a Palliative Care physician who has worked as a clinician, manager, teacher and researcher in palliative care.

Dr Sara Qayyum | Palliative Care Physician

Seyed Faraz Majlessi | Physiotherapist

Faraz Majlessi is an APA Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and clinical educator. He founded MoveImprove Performance, providing specialized physiotherapy, exercise physiology, and acupuncture to seniors in their own homes. Faraz’s expertise lies in persistent pain management for the elderly. He has a passion for improving seniors’ quality of life and employs a holistic model of care that is less commonly practiced in Australia.

Palliative Aged Care Supportive Service (PACSS)

Kelly Arthurs, Transitional Nurse Practitioner
Alyssa Kim, Transitional Nurse Practitioner
Sushila Khadka, Nurse Practitioner, Palliative Care

Social Isolation and the Impact on Older People

Tuesday 25 October 2022

Through discussion and case studies, viewers will be equipped with tools and tips for GPs and Practice Nurses to connect older people to local community hubs and support networks.

Discussion includes the Social/Medical aspects and the interaction between the two and how they impact social isolation for older people.

Learn practical tools/steps that GPs can take to link patients up to services/support.

Learning Outcomes:

Recognise and proactively respond to the impact of social isolation on older people
Differentiate the need for medical or social prescription when working with patients experiencing social isolation
Compare available services that promote social interaction and evaluate these against the lifestyle and needs of patients

Speakers:

Dr Stephen Ginsborg | General Practitioner
Dr Stephen Ginsborg is a GP with interests include mental health, and elder, palliative and intergenerational care. He cares for all ages, but the challenges of ageing have great resonance for him in his work. He is committed to developing strategies that assist community, GPs and other health care professionals to offer options for people, based on compassionate care in a manner and place of their choice.

Dr James Ibraham | General Practitioner
Dr James Ibrahim is a GP and Director of Terrey Hills Medical Centre. He is the current Chair of the RACGP Social Prescribing Specific Interest Group and Sydney North Health Network AOD clinical lead. On a mission to personalise primary care.

Resources:

Social Isolation Services List

Useful Weblinks

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2394670/

https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/the-facts-on-loneliness/

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/methodologies/measuringlonelinessguidanceforuseofthenationalindicatorsonsurveys

https://endingloneliness.com.au/resources/

Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms associated with Dementia and dealing with challenging behaviours

Tuesday 19 July 2022

This webinar assists GPs and other practitioners with the Detection of Dementia and the management of Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD).

Through a series of case studies, viewers will be provided with skills to assistin the early detection of dementia in patients, alongside aid in determining appropriate referrals for health and support services in at risk patients.

In discussing SNHN Programs, LHD initiatives and the use of HealthPathways, viewers will modernise skills in assessing and treating the most common behavioural and psychological symptoms associated with dementia, including the impact on family or carers.

Learning Outcomes:

Utilise course information to determine, access, and designate appropriate health and support service referrals
Recognise the early signs of dementia in patients and understand what servies are available for referral
Recognise the most common behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia (BPSD)
Identify how symptoms present and how to manage
Critique recommended pharmacological options available, including their indications, to treat some of the behaviors

Speakers:

Prof Sue Kurrle | Geriatrician

Prof Kurrle is with the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney and Director at the Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre. She is also Geriatrician and Clinical Director at the division of Rehabilitation And Aged Care at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital and Community Services.

Marie Alford | Head of Dementia Professional Services, Dementia Support Australia (DSA)

Marie is the Head of Dementia Centre Services, HammondCare at The Dementia Centre. In this role Marie leads the delivery and operations of programs including Dementia Support Australia. She is responsible for projects across The Dementia Centre with a focus on improving the quality of life for people in need.

More Information:

For more information, please visit the SNHN dementia webpage

Resources:

SNHN Support Information Access Slides

Prof Sue Kurrle Presentation – Management of behaviours and psychological symptoms of dementia

Prof Marie Alford Presentation – Dementia Support Australia: Supporting when behaviour impacts care

Dementia webpage