Allied Health as Facilitators of Values Based Conversations
A blog written by Dr Olivia Farrer, ELDAC Senior Research Fellow
'Allied health visits create opportunity for advance care conversations, often people share what matters most in the middle of everyday care.'
As we acknowledge Advance Care Planning Week, it’s worth recognising that for older people, especially those approaching the end of life, advance care planning is most effective when it grows out of ongoing, values‑based conversations. These conversations don’t always happen in medical appointments. Often, they emerge during everyday interactions, the very spaces where allied health professionals work.
Allied health professionals frequently engage with older people while discussing aspects of daily life that matter deeply to them: independence, comfort, enjoyment, identity and relationships. In these moments, older people often express what matters most to them, sometimes indirectly, sometimes with great clarity. These insights form the foundation of person-centred care and can meaningfully inform advance care planning.
'You walk <into> a patients home and you get the real version, so that's where we're able to make a difference… And it's not always podiatry related… you know, <her> husband has passed away and she's… you know, she's lost a lot of weight... She's not eating because… she's a bit depressed… Can we get a social worker in, or she can’t get down and clean the shower anymore?... Can we get a cleaner? And what about someone to take her out for a cup of tea. It's all those adjunct services that <we discuss with> the case manager and really quickly get something put into place...' (Podiatry Australia member)
Advance care planning is not only about future treatments or medical decisions. At its heart, it is about understanding a person’s values and how these should shape care as their health changes.
Allied health professionals are skilled at helping people articulate what gives their life meaning, including:
- what they want to continue doing for as long as possible
- what they find unacceptable or burdensome
- where they feel most comfortable and safe
- how they define quality of life.
It’s important to be clear about roles and boundaries. Allied health professionals are not responsible for providing legal advice or completing advance care directive documents. However, they play a crucial role in supporting advance care planning conversations and ensuring the person’s values are heard, understood and shared within the care team.
This might involve:
- Recognising when someone is ready to talk about future care.
- Using everyday language to explore hopes, worries and priorities.
- Documenting values and preferences in progress notes.
- Sharing insights with the multidisciplinary team.
- Prompting review of advance care planning as circumstances change.
Advance care planning is not a one‑off event. Preferences often evolve as health and function declines, living situations change, or new health issues arise. Conversations often need to unfold gradually, across multiple encounters, as a person adjusts to changes in health and dependency.
As highlighted in Farrer and Tieman’s (2025) study, one Occupational Therapist explained the experience of supporting people at the end of life using a powerful walking analogy, '... one leg forward is like living, the next leg forward is like dying... so I think acknowledging that those two things that's a duality... of living and dying at the same time, and one doesn't minimize the other'.
Allied health professionals, who frequently see people over time, are well placed to notice these changes and gently revisit earlier conversations when appropriate.
Advance care planning does not require perfect wording or formal scripts. It requires listening, curiosity and respect for what the person values, skills that sit at the heart of allied health practice.
The Allied Health Toolkit 'Having Confident End-of-Life Conversations' offers practice ready tips for clinicians, and links to further resources and education, and the new '5 Advocacy Tips for Allied Health' fact sheet, also has a section on how to advocate for your involvement in advance care planning meetings in aged care.
If you are an allied health clinician and would like to share your experience or tips on facilitating end-of-life conversations, we would love to share to inspire and upskill other health professionals.
Why not get in touch via the ‘Get Involved’ form in the Allied Health Toolkit.
Citation: Farrer O, Tieman J. Exploring the Implications of Aged Care Reform on Allied Health Workforce and Capacity to Deliver Palliative and End-of-Life Care. Healthcare (Basel). 2025 Dec 8;13(24):3207. doi: 10.3390/healthcare13243207.
Dr Olivia Farrer, Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Senior Research Fellow
ELDAC Allied Health Toolkit.