Advance Care Planning Australia (ACPA) is holding a seminar in Melbourne to support healthcare leaders and practitioners deliver well-coordinated and patient-centred advance care planning in Victoria, on Friday 9 August, 2019.
ACPA has joined forces with key Victorian stakeholders; the Department of Health and Human Services, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Office of the Public Advocate in hosting the event. The one-day seminar is expected to attract leaders and practitioners of advance care planning in Victoria, across sectors including aged care, hospitals, primary care and palliative care.
ACPA is funded by the Australian Government as the national authority on advance care planning. The organisation engages with the general public and supports healthcare professionals to ensure an individual's values and medical care preferences are heard and respected.
Speakers include prominent medical experts including leading intensive care specialist and author, Dr Charlie Corke, and oncologist and columnist, Dr Ranjana Srivistava. Legal experts and aged care representatives will also be included in the speaker line-up, offering both local and national perspectives.
"The landscape for end-of-life care and advance care planning in Victoria continues to change. With voluntary assisted dying coming in to effect recently, now more than ever it is critical that the right policies and processes are in place to ensure Victorians have a say in the medical care they receive should they become too unwell to speak for themselves," said Linda Nolte, Program Director of ACPA.
"Healthcare providers need more support and education to ensure advance care planning is well-coordinated, delivered respectfully and within legal frameworks. The seminar is a great opportunity to share knowledge and expertise in this growing field, and ensure more Victorians remain in control for their own treatment decisions, no matter what the future brings"
