ELDAC - End of Life Directions in Aged Care

Project in Central Adelaide

Do you think end of life care for people at home can be improved? 
Do you wish there was better coordination between community, primary care, and hospital care teams for people with increasing symptoms?

ELDAC is a national, government-funded program working with residential and home care aged care teams, helping them evaluate their current care practices and build knowledge, skills, and confidence in end-of-life care and support. Lutheran Homes Group in Adelaide have now had three services enrol in the program – most recently their home care team. 

A significant part of ELDAC is strengthening links with local providers, including GPs and specialist palliative care services. This can be tricky for services. Home Care teams especially support clients across a large geographical area, and liaison and meaningful clinical collaboration can be challenging. Just getting a discharge summary or Advance Care Plan can be difficult. Strengthening links and working together can help anticipate and prevent, or manage and support people’s symptoms and other needs as their situation changes. This helps avoid late or unplanned hospital admissions and can achieve better care outcomes for older Australians. This includes enabling people to die at home when that is their choice. 

Using baseline assessment and goal setting, services are able to prioritise their needs, working with a facilitator and online resources to establish and sustain improvements. For example, the LHG Home Care team focused on recognising decline and deterioration early; improving the team’s understanding of frailty; collaborating with local palliative care providers; and preparing for the end of life, especially for family members who might struggle in bereavement.

If you know of local aged care services who would like to run an ELDAC project they can find more information here.