Why an Allied Health Toolkit?

Allied health professionals are a critical and diverse group of health care providers in aged care. They help older people to function well physically, socially, and emotionally and support them to live independently in the community. The role of allied health has been recognised within the Palliative Care Australia service guidelines and in the National Palliative Care Strategy.

In the context of palliative and end-of-life care, allied health professionals (AHPs) use their specialised knowledge and skills to provide many services for older people including: 

• Interventions to promote quality of life and reduce the impact of symptoms and comorbidities at end of life
• Strategies to support people to receive care in their own home where preferred
• Care co-ordination to assist people navigate the aged care and palliative care system and make choices that are best for them
• Work collaboratively with other allied health team members to deliver patient centered care as needs change.

The 'Work Together' section of the ELDAC Care Model is a guide to help aged care staff and health professionals Work Together to meet the needs of older Australians coming to the end of their life. The ELDAC Care Model reflects national policies and practices in palliative care, and the ELDAC Toolkits can assist in addressing how to plan and deliver care for a person and contain resources that would be useful in providing care. 

This Toolkit offers AHPs a dedicated resource addressing professional and practice issues in providing care to older people approaching the end of life residing either in their own home or in residential aged care. Where older adults receive palliative care will have some influence on how allied health teams work with individuals, particularly in the referral process and funding model; but also, in how the team communicates to ensure patient-centred care remains a focus. The toolkit is broken up into relevant sections to provide background to end-of-life care in aged care, an overview of the allied health team and their roles, practice issues for AHPs, and a repository of clinical and best practice guidelines and evidence.