Palliative care

Primary Health Tasmania works to support quality palliative and end-of-life care for Tasmanians, under the Australian Government’s Greater Choice For at Home Palliative Care Measure.

What is palliative care?

Palliative care can be defined as “an attempt to look after all the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of someone with a serious illness that cannot be cured.” These are called life-limiting illnesses, and may include conditions such as cancer, motor neurone disease, dementia, and more.

You can find out more about what palliative care is, including the difference between end-of-life and palliative care, via healthdirect.

You can also find out more about palliative care in Tasmania, including support and resources, via Palliative Care Tasmania.

Greater Choice for At-Home Palliative Care

The Australian Government has funded the Greater Choice for At-Home Palliative Care Measure to support people with life-limiting conditions by improving the coordination and integration of palliative care across primary, secondary, tertiary and community health services.

Primary Health Tasmania is using the funding to:

  • work with Palliative Care Tasmania to provide education around palliative care services, advance care planning, grief and loss, self-care for carers and practitioners, and symptom management strategies
  • produce helpful resources for clinicians, people with life-limiting illnesses and those who support them
  • update Tasmanian HealthPathways’ palliative care information.

Palliative care needs assessment

Primary Health Tasmania’s palliative care needs assessment provides an overview of the current palliative care landscape in Tasmania, bringing together information on palliative care services, community needs, and workforce challenges to identify gaps in access and opportunities to improve care.

Helpful links

Where to find help:

  • Palliative Care Tasmania can provide information about palliative care services across Tasmania.
  • Tasmanian Department of Health: Palliative Care provides information including support for patients and families, planning and decisions about end-of-life, and palliative care services.
  • Palliative Care Australia has information for patients, carers, health professionals and service providers. They also have a searchable National Palliative Care Service Directory.
  • Carers Tasmania can provide support and advice to family carers. This can include arranging respite care and providing counselling.
  • The CareSearch website, in particular the community section, offers accessible, evidence-based information and resources to support patients, carers, and families navigating palliative care, addressing topics such as living with illness, end-of-life planning, bereavement, and culturally appropriate care.