Palliative Care WA

Have you thought about what matters most to you if you're unable to make decisions about your care?

Advance Care Planning gives you the opportunity to consider your priorities for the last stage of life and share your wishes with those closest to you.

We are hosting free Advance Care Planning workshops in your community and online, with several coming up over the next few weeks. To find out more, visit: https://palliativecarewa.asn.au/events/

In palliative care, some of the most profound moments do not arise when death is imminent, but when recovery itself begins to fade.

Dr Mohamed Nidhal S and Dr Ramanan Rajagopal explore that for elderly patients with severe neurological illness, families are often thrust without warning into an unfamiliar world of machines, prognostic uncertainty, and emotionally overwhelming decisions.

In these moments, medicine is no longer solely about reversing disease—it becomes equally about preserving dignity, alleviating suffering, and helping families navigate the fragile space between hope and acceptance.

To read more, visit: https://ehospice.com/editorial_posts/a-neuropalliative-care-reflection-on-severe-stroke-extubation-and-dignity-at-the-end-of-life/?utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_content=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_term=Newsletter

Last call for PCWA memberships! You can make a positive impact on the delivery of palliative care in WA by joining Palliative Care WA as a 2026/27 member for $40 for individual members and FREE for concessional members (volunteers, seniors, students, concession cardholders).

You can help us provide an independent, strong and collective voice for palliative care within WA.

As a member you can attend sector forums for free and receive discounts to other events such as our annual breakfast and our biennial Palliative Care in WA Awards.

To join, go to https://palliativecarewa.asn.au/membership/individual-membership/

For those of us who have loved and lost a valued furry member of our family, pet grief is real.

According to a recent RSPCA survey, 93% of people reported feeling “heartbroken” over their loss, but only 6.9% felt their grief had been taken seriously by society. In addition, around half of the people surveyed reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression because of their grief.

This article explores this very real form of grief:

More than “just a pet” - Why pet grief deserves to be taken seriously Death is a part of life, not just for humans, but for animals too. To mark National Pet Day 2026, guest blogger, Amy Jackson asks why the death of a pet is so often overlooked.

Early bird registrations are now open, with discounted rates available only for a limited time, for the APHC27OPCC – The Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care
Conference in Adelaide from 20–23 April 2027.

Join leading voices from across the Asia Pacific and Oceanic regions for four inspiring days of learning, connection, and collaboration. The APHC27OPCC will bring together professionals, researchers, decision-makers and people with lived experience.

Under the theme ‘Stronger Together: Humanity at the heart of palliative care,’ the conference will inspire meaningful conversations and innovation in care.

Don’t miss this opportunity! Register here: https://aomevents.eventsair.com/aphc2027opcc/aphc27opcc-registration-portal/Site/Register

Palliative Care WA holds a range of workshops and short courses to suit the different information needs of community members.

This includes:
• Advance Care Planning (My Future Care) workshops
• Advance Health Directive document completion workshops through our ACP Support Service
• PalliLEARN short online courses aimed at equipping community members to learn about palliative care.

Want to learn more? Head to the events page of our website for all the details and the links to book your place.

All of our community workshops are free for WA residents, thanks to funding from WA Health Department. Our PalliLEARN courses are supported through funding from Richard Lockwood.

If you would like to organise an in-person or online Advance Care Planning Workshop for your own community group, organisation or workplace please contact us on [email protected].

Flinders University offers a range of flexible online short courses designed to help health professionals build practical skills and confidence in palliative and end-of-life care.

Courses available include:

▪️ Certificate in Palliative Care – a foundational overview of best practice palliative care
▪️ Specialist Certificate in Palliative Care – advanced study with credit towards future postgraduate qualifications
▪️ Communication Skills for End-of-Life Conversations – practical training to support compassionate, person-centred communication with patients and families

Developed with industry partners and delivered fully online, these courses support professional development across a range of healthcare settings.

📅 Register by 30 June for July 2026 enrolment.
🔗 Explore the courses: Palliative Care Short Courses
📧 [email protected]

⏰ 1 WEEK TO GO!

In just one week, we'll be welcoming palliative care nurses, researchers, educators, leaders and advocates from across Australia to Adelaide for the 2026 PCNA Conference.

Across the conference, we'll explore how we can move From Ideas to Impact, sharing practical innovations, evidence, experiences and solutions that help improve equity and access to palliative care.

We're especially looking forward to hearing from keynote speaker Kathryn Mannix, connecting with colleagues from around the country, and celebrating the incredible work being done across our profession.

Whether you're joining us in Adelaide or online, we can't wait to welcome you.

📍 Adelaide Convention Centre & Online
📅 10–12 June 2026 (Pre-conference workshops on 10 June)

There's still time to register: https://pcnaconference.au/

Palliative care remains one of the most undervalued and misunderstood areas of medicine, even among healthcare professionals. Despite decades of progress, international guidelines, and extensive research, persistent misconceptions obscure the true nature of this field.

These myths do more than just distort our discussions about illness and support; they influence the decisions made by patients and their families, shape how young specialists perceive the profession, and affect healthcare policy and resource allocation.

Dispelling these myths is more than just an academic task. It is an essential step in making palliative care a normal and accessible part of the healthcare system. To learn more, visit:

Ten Myths About Palliative Care - by Uliana Pavlovskaia, PACED Palliative care remains one of the most undervalued and misunderstood areas of medicine, even among healthcare professionals.

Congratulations to the End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) team on winning the 2026 ITAC Award for Data Insights at the recent Ageing Australia ITAC Awards.

The award recognises the ELDAC Digital Dashboard, an innovative tool supporting improved end-of-life care in aged care through practical, evidence-informed use of digital technology and existing clinical data. The dashboard supports care planning, clinical insight and decision-making across the sector, helping services strengthen quality end-of-life care for older Australians.

This recognition highlights the growing importance of digital innovation, data and collaboration in aged care, and reflects the strong partnerships between aged care providers, researchers and technology experts working to improve care outcomes across the sector.