COVID-19 has not only changed the way Victorians live, it has changed the way they are dying, with the number of families providing palliative care for loved ones at home soaring over the past six months.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed the way Victorians live, it has changed the way they are dying, with the number of families providing palliative care for loved ones at home almost doubling in some Melbourne suburbs over the past six months.The number of families caring for dying loved ones at home has soared in Melbourne since COVID-19 hit
Michelle Wood, chief executive of Banksia Palliative Care, which services Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs, said 65 per cent of palliative care patients were now choosing to die at home — compared with 35 per cent who were opting for hospital care in their last days. Ms Wood said many carers underestimated how difficult providing end-of-life care would be — especially during one of the most stressful periods in living memory.
As a result, palliative care support providers say they have never been so stretched and many families who have chosen to care for dying relatives at home may not be receiving all the support services they require.Palliative Care Australia chair Professor Meera Agar says people need access to more palliative care services.
"The anxiety that COVID-19 has caused for staff has been, at times, very difficult to manage with support services to assist staff with this not appropriate or not existent." She said many families were "having to make very difficult decisions about which family members/friends will be able to see their loved ones at the end of life".
EPC family support worker Trish Delany said family played an integral role in the spiritual wellbeing of patients living with a terminal diagnosis, and it was understandable that people did not want their loved ones to die in isolation.
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