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      The Advance Project

      Empowering better aged and primary care through team-based initiation of advance care planning and palliative care.

      The Advance Project

      Empowering better aged and primary care through team-based initiation of advance care planning and palliative care.

      What is The Advance Project?

      The Advance Project® provides practical, evidence-based resources and training led by HammondCare in collaboration with CareSearch, funded by the Australian Government.

      It is designed to support residential and community aged care professionals, GPs, nurses and support staff in general practice and primary care, to implement a team-based approach to initiating advance care planning (ACP) and palliative care.

      The Advance Project® offers two evidence-based toolkits, one for use in general practice settings and the other for use with people living with dementia and their families.

      The Advance Project training and resources were informed by literature reviews and extensive input from expert advisory groups, GPs, aged and primary care nurses and allied health staff, aged and primary care managers, careworkers, and consumer representatives.

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      What training and resources are available?

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      Training

      The Advance Project training

      The Advance Project resources

      The Advance Project® provides practical, evidence-based resources specifically designed to support residential and community aged care professionals, GPs, nurses and support staff in general practice and primary care.

      The resources empower aged and primary care professionals to implement a team-based approach to initiating advance care planning (ACP) and palliative care into everyday practice and care provision.

      This comprises two toolkits:

      1. For general practice – The Advance Project® Toolkit (General Practice)
      2. For use with people living with dementia – The Advance Project® Toolkit (Dementia)
      Register for resources now

      The Advance Project training

      The Advance Project® offers a range of free eLearning for residential and community aged care professionals, GPs, nurses and support staff in general practice and primary care. The eLearning courses have been designed to meet the specific learning needs of individual groups.

      The Advance Project resources

      The Advance Project® provides practical, evidence-based resources specifically designed to support residential and community aged care professionals, GPs, nurses and support staff in general practice and primary care.

      The resources empower aged and primary care professionals to implement a team-based approach to initiating advance care planning (ACP) and palliative care into everyday practice and care provision.

      This comprises two toolkits:

      1. For general practice – The Advance Project® Toolkit (General Practice)
      2. For use with people living with dementia – The Advance Project® Toolkit (Dementia)
      Register for resources now

      Improve collaboration in advance care planning

      Our team-based approach aims to break down barriers to initiating advance care planning and palliative care in general practice and aged care. You’ll gain the skills and knowledge to:

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      Initiate planning

      Encourage earlier patient uptake of advance care planning.

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      Identify needs

      Identify patients who might be at risk of deteriorating and dying.

      Referral
      Make referrals

      More appropriate and timely referrals to specialist palliative care.

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      Deliver care

      Assess and address the care needs of patients at risk of deteriorating and dying.

      Social support
      Grow capability

      Feel confident in starting advance care planning conversations with patients.

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      Create momentum

      Use your newfound skills to overcome any project implementation barriers.

      How is The Advance Project being evaluated?

      We have carried out evaluations at each phase of the project for ongoing quality improvement. You'll find more detail in our publications.

      Phase 1

      General practice nurse program evaluation

      In the project’s first phase, general practice nurses from all Australian states and territories took part in a mixed-methods program evaluation. More than 500 nurses participated.

      Feedback about the training was overwhelmingly positive, with nurses highly rating the quality and relevance of resources and training to their clinical practice and value for their patients. We found evidence of significant and sustained improvements in nurses’ confidence, comfort, knowledge and attitudes towards initiating conversations about advance care planning and assessing patients’ and carers’ palliative care needs.

      Nurses also reported positive impacts for their patients and carers following the implementation of the resources in their clinical practice. Complementary training for GPs and practice managers was highly recommended to enable a team-based approach.

      Phase 2

      Whole of general practice program evaluation

      In the second phase of the project, more than 950 participants registered to undertake the online training and more than 720 participated in face-to-face training.

      Participating GPs, nurses and practice managers again highly rated the training and resources. Nineteen general practices from across Australia took part in a mixed-methods evaluation of patients, carers and clinicians' experiences of using the resources in practice.

      The findings suggest positive experiences for participating patients and carers, such as increased awareness and confidence to discuss advance care planning with their families and healthcare professionals.

      Participating carers reported feeling empowered to consider their most important questions and concerns about their carer role. The Advance Project® model facilitated teamwork among GPs, nurses and practice managers, and encouraged them to work together to discuss their patients’ and carers’ needs and plan the next steps together.

      Phase 3

      Dementia specific program evaluation

      Phase 3, which began on 1 July 2020, comprised training and resources used with people living with dementia.

      The ultimate goal was to enable people living with dementia to have the opportunity to express their needs and preferences for care at the end of life, and have access to palliative care and support for their families and carers.

      The training and resources have been informed by literature reviews and extensive input from expert advisory groups, GPs, aged and primary care nurses and allied health staff, aged and primary care managers, care workers and consumer representatives

      The new dementia training and resources were made available from July 2022, and aim to empower aged and primary care professionals to:

      • Initiate conversations about advance care planning with people living with different stages of dementia
      • Empower and prepare families to advocate for the person’s end-of-life care wishes in the future
      • Identify people with dementia who would benefit from a structured assessment of their palliative care needs
      • Systematically assess the palliative care needs of the person and their family’s needs for support and information
      • Identify people with dementia who would most benefit from referral to specialist palliative care

      Similar to the previous two phases, The Advance Project® Phase 3 will be evaluated nationally.

      How to access The Advance Project training and resources

      If you want to learn more about what’s available or access the free training and resources, visit The Advance Project® website. Alternatively, feel free to contact The Advance Project® Team at advanceproject@hammond.com.au.

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