Palliative Care

Palliative care supports your physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs when facing a life-limiting illness. It helps manage symptoms, control pain, and keep you as comfortable as possible.

At Lutheran Services, our palliative care service supports our residents in their environment, surrounded by people they know and love. And we welcome new residents who need our support.

Palliative care can also be delivered in different environments including at home, in hospital, or in a hospice. While hospital is helpful for a short stay, Lutheran Services specialises in long-term continuous care for people with life-limiting illness.

The Lutheran Services palliative care team specialises in urgent palliative care and long-term continuous care for people with life-limiting illness.

We ensure you stay in the comfort of a familiar environment, supported through experienced clinical care and surrounded by people you know and love.

We can help you manage practical matters like wills, advanced care directives, and social services. Spiritual support and chaplaincy services are also on hand.

Our multi-disciplinary team are experienced in palliative medication administration and provide personalised and coordinated care. We respect your wishes and keep loved ones involved every step of the way.

After diagnosis of a life-limiting illness, your care will be personalised and coordinated to protect your quality of life and ensure you are comfortable.

Lutheran Services stays by your side, coordinating care for your physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs during this time. Loved ones are an important part of this experience and are also cared for by the people they know at Lutheran Services.

We offer a conversation about end-of-life choices to ensure we understand what is important to you and that our service reflects your wishes. This is a team effort and may also involve your loved ones, doctors, care workers and other professionals.

After diagnosis of a life-limiting illness, your care will be personalised and coordinated to protect your quality of life and ensure you are comfortable.

Lutheran Services stays by your side, coordinating care for your physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs during this time. Loved ones are an important part of this experience and are also cared for by the people they know at Lutheran Services.

We offer a conversation about end-of-life choices to ensure we understand what is important to you and that our service reflects your wishes. This is a team effort and may also involve your loved ones, doctors, care workers and other professionals.

What do you value most? Who are the most important people in your life right now? What kind of care do you want?

Advance Care Planning allows a person to express their preferences to inform future medical treatment if they become unable to participate in decision making. Advance care planning puts the person at the centre of care and has been shown to improve the quality of care people receive at the end of their lives.

A good way to think about Advance Care Planning is as a living will. Advance Care Planning is a way that a person can let their family, doctors and carers know what health care is important to them.

For more information, please visit  https://www.advancecareplanning.org.au/

Legally binding, the Advance Health Directive records your preferences for future care and can appoint a substitute decision maker for situations where you lose capacity. While these are not mandatory, they help your family and health carers act with confidence and ensure your desired outcomes are respected.

For more information, please visit  https://www.advancecareplanning.org.au/

We understand some of our residents or clients may wish to explore voluntary assisted dying as an option, and we respect their right to choose. If residents/clients in our care wish to access voluntary assisted dying, we will support them to do so, but Lutheran Services will not play an active role in the VAD process. We will treat all enquiries about VAD in a compassionate and respectful manner.

Bereavement care is offered to residents and loved ones. This can start as early as the time of admission into an aged care service with conversations around choices, preferences and a life well lived. It can involve chaplaincy care if preferred, or involvement of a specialist palliative care team who can assist with social and psychological support.

Lutheran Services chaplains can support families through this difficult time. There is a multidisciplinary approach to care and our staff are always available for further information or clarification on any matter.