National Palliative Care Week, held this year from 22-28 May, is supported by the Department of Health and aims to raise awareness and understanding about palliative and end of life care in Australia. The theme for this year’s week is ‘You matter. Your care matters. Palliative care can make a difference’. Palliative Care Australia emphasises that “people in aged care often have more than one chronic illness which affects their health in different ways. Palliative care can help manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life”.

To acknowledge the importance of end of life care and National Palliative Care Week Calvary Retirement Communities has introduced ‘Relative Comfort Packs’.

The comfort packs contain information on palliative and end of life care, a bookmark with local social services details and items to help support families when their loved ones are approaching and reaching the end of their life.

Calvary Cooinda Retirement Community Manager Sharon Sheen was the instrumental driver behind these packs. “We often look at providing support to the residents when they are approaching the end of their life but is it important to provide a holistic service, inclusive of the resident’s families. Families often find support in understanding the dying process and knowing how to access support services if needed after their loved one has passed”.

Sharon continued “These packs are a small gesture but will provide a great amount of comfort to relatives as they are able to better understand the journey the resident is experiencing”.

The packs will be rolled out across eleven Calvary Retirement Communities in the Hunter and Sydney regions.