Draft strategies for advance care planning awareness raising, training and education consultation

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.