Education and training

A range of initiatives and resources are available to enhance the skills and knowledge of all health professionals who provide care at the end of life.

Care at end of life Education and training framework

The Care at end of life: Education and training framework has been initiated to assist Hospital and Health Services with developing a localised Education and Training Strategy to expand knowledge of end-of-life care and raise awareness of advance care planning, the delivery of care at the end of life and the availability of supporting services and resources.

Queensland resources

CPCRE is a Queensland Health-funded initiative, developed to enhance palliative care education and research throughout Queensland.

The Queensland Palliative Medicine Advanced Training Pathway manages applications for advanced trainee positions from eligible applicants undertaking either Palliative Medicine Advanced Training or a Clinical Diploma of Palliative Medicine.

The End of Life Law for Clinicians offers free online training for medical practitioners and students, nurses, and allied and other health professionals (including paramedics and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals) focusing on the law relating to end of life decision-making. It covers the law in Queensland on key topics including Advance Health Directives, withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, capacity and consent to treatment, and substitute decision-making. .

National resources

The Australian Government funds a range of national palliative care projects primarily focused on education, training, quality improvement and advance care planning.

PEPA is a national program established to provide healthcare workers with an opportunity to develop skills in the palliative approach by attending:

  • 2-5 day placements with a specialist palliative care service
  • tailored workshops on palliative care principles, culture-centred care and Indigenous palliative care.

In Queensland, PEPA works with the Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education (CPCRE) to deliver workshops and education.

QuoCCA seeks to improve skills, knowledge and confidence of health professionals involved in delivery of paediatric palliative care across Australia through pop-up and scheduled education sessions. This initiative is led by Children’s Health Queensland collaboration with other children’s hospitals in Australia.

The My Learning modules aim to demonstrate how to find relevant evidence and how to use the evidence resources in CareSearch to make a difference in clinical care. Two were written for aged care: My Learning 4: Residential Aged Care and My Learning 5: Dementia.

Decision Assist develops and delivers accessible and industry-appropriate palliative care and advance care planning training packages, webinars and online education.

Advance Care Planning Australia modules, seminars and workshops ranging from an introduction to ACP to more specialised courses for health professionals.

The Advance Project offers a range of learning options for general practice nurses to develop their knowledge of, and skills in using, screening tools to support the provision of palliative care and advance care planning in everyday general practice.

These education modules are designed to assist doctors, nurses and allied health professionals working in acute hospitals in delivering care at the end of life.

The Residential Aged Care Palliative Approach Toolkit is a set of resources designed to assist residential aged care providers to implement a comprehensive, evidence-based palliative approach to care for appropriate residents.

The PCC4U project aims to improve the skill and confidence of the health workforce to work with people with palliative care needs by promoting the integration of palliative care training within all health undergraduate, entry-to-practice, and relevant post-graduate curricula.

End of Life Law in Australia provides accurate and practical information to assist you to navigate the challenging legal issues that can arise with end of life decision-making. It is a broad introduction to end of life laws in each Australian State and Territory to help you know the law, and your rights and duties.

End of Life Direction for Aged Care provides information, guidance, and resources to health professionals and aged care workers to support palliative care and advance care planning to improve the care of older Australians.

Contact us

Email: CareAtEOL@health.qld.gov.au

Last updated: 17 April 2024