Eldercare wins for innovative palliative care program
Eldercare’s palliative care team has won a national innovation award in recognition of the dedicated support it provides in aged care homes.

The palliative care team of South Australian aged care provider Eldercare has won a national innovation award in recognition of the dedicated support it provides to staff, residents and families.
The team – which includes three of the state’s nine qualified palliative care nurse practitioners – picked up the Innovation in Palliative Care Award at last Thursday’s National Palliative Care Awards ceremony in Sydney.
Eldercare employs a dedicated palliative care team, which offers faster and more accessible specialist support to achieve an improved resident experience during the palliative and end-of-life stages.
Eldercare chief executive Jane Pickering said the award validated the organisation’s Palliative Care program, and the team who developed it.
“In recent years our palliative care team has grown and with their help we have been able to build Eldercare’s clinical expertise and capability in delivering specialist palliative and end-of-life care,” said Ms Pickering.
“The work of our highly skilled and compassionate palliative care professionals has led to improved palliative care outcomes for our residents, and we are truly thankful to count them as part of the Eldercare team.”
Those outcomes for Eldercare residents, as of April 2023, include:
- 93 per cent have an advance care plan compared to 37.7 per cent of aged care residents nationally
- 93 per cent died in a familiar environment versus 85.9 per cent of aged care residents across Australia.
Advance Care Plans improve end-of-life care by ensuring that a person’s preferences are known even if they are unable to make decisions while dying in an acute hospital, which can be a traumatic experience for residents and their loved ones, said Ms Pickering.
“Eldercare’s significant investment in palliative care practice reduced the need for hospital transfers at end-of-life,” she said.
The National Palliative Care Awards Gala Dinner took place at the Oceanic Palliative Care Conference in Sydney on Thursday 14 September.
Main image: Eldercare’s operational services executive Anne-Marie Gillard (left) and chief executive Jane Pickering at the award’s ceremony
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A huge pity that Eldercare Hope Valley did not utilise this service when my father passed away recently. The specialist palliative care nurse Gabby was not even notified by staff. More than disappointing. Huge improvements need to be made so lets hold off on the awards!