Advancing aged care support: ELDAC Linkages Program Alumni

A guest blog by Diana Harrison, Jennifer Gavin and Rebecca Moore, ELDAC Project Coordinators from Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

The ELDAC (End of Life Directions for Aged Care) Linkages Program is a facilitated palliative care and advance care planning initiative that aims to improve the quality of end-of-life care for all older Australians receiving aged care. The program is underpinned by evidence-based strategies to enhance linkages between aged, primary and specialist palliative care providers and is supported by the ELDAC Linkages Toolkit.

As part of the program, ELDAC Linkage Facilitators guide participating aged care providers through processes to assess, develop and implement sustainable improvements in palliative care and advance care planning. Facilitation is tailored to need, provided at no cost, and designed to support participating service site goals in building capability and cross sector linkages to support their palliative care approach.

To continue support of (and ongoing connections with) past participating services of the ELDAC Linkages (Working Together) Program, the ELDAC Alumni has been initiated as a virtual network.

On completion of participation in the ELDAC Linkages program, all past enrolled services are invited to join the ELDAC Linkages Program Alumni. The first Alumni event was held in 2021 as a virtual webinar event. The ELDAC Linkages Program Alumni acts as a network providing a focused and dedicated opportunity to continue to maximise the sustainability of palliative care, linkages and advance care planning improvements initiated through the ELDAC Linkages Program. The Alumni also provides opportunities for shared experiences and learnings from the wide Alumni network, as well as hearing from key experts in the wider National ELDAC Team. Members receive ELDAC updates on resources and new programs and provides navigation of ELDAC resources on the ELDAC website. In a rapidly shifting workforce, new staff members who may not have been actively involved during program activity, can be quickly familiarised with ELDAC resources and contacts through the Webinars.

To connect and communicate with Alumni members, Biannual Zoom Webinar meetings are led by the ELDAC Linkages Facilitators, who present relevant, current information and resources from a national perspective. Webinar content is structured for key roles, such as Management, Clinical, Quality and Education. Recent topics have included: Aspects of Sustainability for Capacity Building Initiatives in Palliative Care, ELDAC Linkages Audits and Updates, New Additions to the ELDAC Toolkits, ELDAC Website and National ELDAC Update, as well as more specific topics. At each Webinar, past participating services are also invited as guest speakers to present to the Alumni on their approach to continued service improvement and sustainability. This segment has provided valuable insights for other services on approaches to sustainability following completion of the program. Alumni members are always sent resources linked with the presentations and a participant survey after the Webinars and can access the recording post event.

Matt Kowald (General Manager of Integrated Care services, Barossa Village in Nuriootpa, SA), a recent webinar speaker, was highly positive about his site’s participation in the ELDAC Linkages program, describing how his service had effectively maintained a sustainable change though several key initiatives including introducing new regular audit and reviews, allowing time for reflection on performance, linking this to education and embedding activities into clinical governance. The Introduction of a Link Nurse role to lead the change and embed systems during the intense change period was pivotal to the service. Matt strongly recommends not having one person being dependent, but ensuring systems are in place for ongoing success.  Matt shared during his presentation how an ongoing connection through the Alumni was highly valuable to remain current and connected and focused on holding the improvements and change across the service. In his own words, Matt concluded his presentation with, ‘The Barossa Village experience was overly positive and still something that we see as positive change to our Organisation. It’s something we are all still really proud of what we achieved.’

Following the webinar event, Alumni webinar participants are asked to comment on the value of the experience. Alumni webinar participants’ responses include: ‘It was a positive and productive session’, ‘The webinar was helpful and gave me some badly needed energy to progress our journey for our clients and families’ and ‘Thanks for the updating and refreshing the ELDAC knowledge with us. We need your support for sure!’

ELDAC facilitators have also commented on the positive value in continuing connections with past services, to share new national initiatives and resources and to learn from and continue to share experiences of the Alumni. Feedback from ELDAC Facilitators include: ‘It was a valuable undertaking to continue our connections with aged care services’ and ‘It’s great to hear from our Alumni of previously enrolled services present on their journey of sustainability and improvements in palliative care since the program. This is so valuable for others – it provides rich learnings for the future.’

The ELDAC Alumni webinars and resources will continue to equip aged care providers with skills and information, and build on already excellent existing connections and relationships, to help older Australians receive high-quality end of life care.

For further information on the ELDAC Linkages Alumni program, contact the Linkage Facilitators at eldacteam1@qut.edu.au