Department of Health, WA

The WA Health End-of-Life Care Program released draft high level strategies for Advance Care Planning (ACP) education and awareness raising amongst health professionals and the community for broad consultation in September to October 2020.

The survey asked for input on the comprehensiveness and anticipated effectiveness of the overall approach outlined by the strategies and sought to identify existing education, training and awareness raising initiatives that are of relevance to the strategies.

All members of the WA community were encouraged to have their say, with the invitation to participate circulated amongst a broad range of stakeholders including consumers and carers, community organisations, Government departments/areas, health and allied health professionals, health and legal services, and aged care providers.

Over 75 responses we received to the online survey.

Overall the feedback from the consultation was positive with 77% of respondents indicating they agreed/ strongly agreed that the strategies:

• were easy to understand
• outline an appropriate approach for advance care planning education, training and awareness in WA
• provide appropriate direction for future advance care planning education, training and awareness in WA.

As a result of the positive feedback, no strategies were removed but the following are some of the changes that were made:

• More examples of current related activities in WA and Australia were added
• The target population was clarified for some strategies where it was unclear
• The need to tailor strategies to populations and provide information in a variety of formats was emphasised
• The need to recognise existing resources and materials and adopt a coordinated approach where possible was noted
• A strong emphasis on a collaborative design approach for the development of resources and implementation planning of the strategies was supported
• The need to recognise the role that different professions play in supporting ACP varies, and education and training should reflect that.

Additional more-detailed feedback has been noted and recorded to inform the implementation phase.

Further background information was added to the document to provide clarity on the purpose, development process, and implementation (i.e. how it should be used and by who). A one-page summary has also been included. The final document is referred to as WA Health’s strategy for Advance Care Planning education and awareness raising: For health professionals and the community.

The first anniversary of the launch of the WA Men’s Health and Wellbeing Policy (the Policy) was celebrated during Men’s Health Week in June 2020.

A 12 Month Check-Up of the Policy was carried out to assist in understanding:

• the level of awareness of the Policy
• men’s health and wellbeing related activities that have been carried out in the previous 12 months
• any issues and/or opportunities regarding the Policy that have arisen.

An on-line survey was developed and was open for a period of five weeks (24 August - 25 September 2020). A total of 37 responses were received.

Overall, the feedback indicated that the majority of respondents were aware of the Policy and most people had some level of familiarity with its content. Despite the challenges of implementing the Policy (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic), a wide variety of men’s health and wellbeing events have occurred in the 12 months under review. The feedback was supportive of the purpose of the Policy as it provides a good framework to support the health and wellbeing of men and boys living in WA.

Your feedback was summarised in the WA Men’s Health and Wellbeing Policy: 12 Month Check-Up Report. A copy of the 12 Month Check-up Report is available on the WA Department of Health website.

In 2020, the WA Health End-of-Life Care Program sought feedback on the revision of the WA Advance Health Directive (AHD) template. The consultation consisted of 2 phases:

• an initial broad consultation phase in August 2020 to seek feedback on proposed content to help shape a draft template
  • included a survey and a series of open invitation face-to-face workshops, regional videoconference consultations, and targeted workshops with key clinicians as well as priority populations including people with mental illness, Aboriginal people, people with disability and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.   
• a road-testing phase in October/November 2020 to gather comments on the usability of the draft template
  • included a survey and 3 face-to-face workshops.

All members of the WA community were encouraged to have their say, with the invitation to participate circulated amongst a broad range of stakeholders including consumers and carers, community organisations, Government departments/areas, health and allied health professionals, health and legal services, and aged care providers.

In total, 295 survey responses were received, and 217 people participated in workshops. Extensive feedback was received including useful suggestions on how to ensure the revised AHD better meets the needs of the community and health professionals: Key themes included:

• support for the inclusion of a value statement and including the value statement at the beginning of the AHD to allow the individual to consider what is important to them before making their treatment decisions
• finding a balance between keeping the form as short as possible whilst also including enough guidance and detail within the questions so people are clear on how to complete it
• need for examples and a clear guidance document to support individuals to complete the AHD
• importance of being able to express the circumstances in which certain treatment decisions apply
• the wording of the form should be simple, clear and in plain English
• overall the majority of respondents felt the proposed changes are an improvement on the current form which can be considered as too vague and open-ended.

The feedback was utilised to develop a final draft AHD template that was reviewed and refined by a working group comprised of WA Health stakeholders, key clinicians, consumers, and Office of the Public Advocate and Department of Justice representatives.

It is anticipated that WA Health will submit the finalised draft AHD template to the Department of Justice in April 2021. Once the Department of Justice have approved the final draft, they will proceed with drafting amendments to the Guardianship and Administration Act Regulations 2005 to incorporate changes to the prescribed AHD form. The revised AHD will be launched and promoted to the community once available.