Home visits for palliative care increase by 18%

The number of Medicare-subsidised palliative care services provided at home almost doubled between 2015–16 and 2019–20, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

Home visits for palliative care specialist services increased by an average of 18% annually over the five-year period, with a total of 2240 patients receiving home visits in 2019–20, according to the ‘Palliative care services in Australia report’. Most palliative care services, however, continue to be received in a hospital or surgery, with these services increasing by 12% over the same five-year period.

“Providing palliative care-related services in the home can be important for people with a life-limiting illness and their families, enabling them to remain in or return to their preferred location,” said AIHW spokesperson Sushma Mathur.

Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their families facing life-limiting illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering.

“Historically, it was assumed that palliative care would commence only once all treatment aimed at ‘curing’ people had finished or only when a person was dying,” Mathur said.

“However, there are benefits to providing palliative care in association with disease-modifying therapies that aim to prolong life. It is also recognised that many people with life-limiting illnesses are not ‘cured’ but continue to live with these illnesses for many years.”

The report also includes updated information on palliative care services provided in hospital, and for people living in residential aged care.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost 83,500 palliative care-related hospitalisations were recorded in 2018–19, an increase of 29% between 2014–15 and 2018–19.

Of the 244,700 people living in permanent residential aged care in 2019–20, 4700 (1.9%) were appraised as needing palliative care services.

Mathur noted this data only reflects whether a resident was appraised as needing palliative care, rather than whether they actually received the services. Information on actual service provision is a significant gap in the national data.

Further, national reporting on the need for palliative care in residential aged care is likely to be an underestimate, as available data are based on a funding instrument, rather than providing a comprehensive, diagnostic assessment.

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