All people require evidence-based and person-centred care at the end of their lives. However, it is recognised that this care is not equally available to all people across Australia. The National Palliative Care Strategy (2018) (the Strategy) represents the commitment of the Commonwealth, state, and territory governments to ensuring the highest possible level of palliative and end-of-life care is available to all people.
Well-defined measures help to drive improvements in a sector and, when monitored regularly, act as a concise guide for informed decision-making. The national palliative care measures aim to track if 'people affected by life-limiting illnesses get the care they need to live well' aligning with the Strategy's vision. These measures were developed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in alignment with the broad goals of the Strategy. This report provides an update on the progress of these measures.
- Cat. no: HSE 254
Findings from this report:
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Most of the measures indicated that palliative care experiences were better among older people than younger people
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Pain improved or remained low for 71% of palliative care phases. This remained stable between 2018 and 2022
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From 2018 to 2020, people in palliative care who had a non-beneficial treatment at the end of life reduced from 9% to 8%
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From 2018 to 2020, people in palliative care who had a potentially preventable hospitalisation reduced from 13% to 12%