Palliative care in the age of Covid-19

More questions than ever about advance care directives.

Who-speaks-for-us-when-we-cant-speak-for-ourselves

This article on advance care directives has been updated on August 5, 2022. Advance care directives are evolving – and there’s so much more to know beyond the usual questions of “Do I need to have an advanced care directive?” and “Who needs to know about it?” For example how … Read more

How was palliative care left out of this?

Avril Jackson - information officer for the European Association of Palliative Care, photo via LinkedIn

This article was updated 3 August, 2022. Palliative care advocates, this one’s for you, as a new palliative care community of practice has been announced by NSW Health. And what’s better, they are calling for participants for their palliative care community of practice. This is incredibly important work as Covid … Read more

We need to explain reactions to Covid-19 vaccines.

At the moment there is fear and push back because of the blood clotting associated with the Astra Zeneca vaccine

We go back to Covid-19, which will never really leave us now – the idea of it is with us forever. Vaccines will make a huge difference, saving lives. Yes, at Good Grief! we talk about death, but facing off against Covid-19 is now part of that conversation. At the … Read more

World figures show wide range in Covid-19 nursing home deaths.

Earlier this month, the NSW Coroner’s Court announced it will investigate the deadly outbreak of Covid-19 at Newmarch House aged care facility in Sydney’s outer western suburbs, where 19 residents died from the virus. This is good to hear. We’ll have an objective analysis, with scrupulous attention to detail, a … Read more

Work and end-of-life care – online for post-Covid times

Work has gone online – even, surprisingly, in the healthcare space. We’ve discovered more about what’s effective and what isn’t as lawyers, school teachers and sales people have developed new online practices. However, at times this can feel like two steps forward, one step back. Some Sydney lawyers report that … Read more

“We’ve been going about this the wrong way,” he says.

"We've been going about this the wrong way," End-of-Life-Essentials

Thank you to Deb Rawlings and the End-of-Life-Essentials team for sharing this. It’s a perfect video to wrap up our current bracket of advance care directive discussions. By reading this, you’ll understand just how different the scenarios can be in end of life planning – and the factors that need … Read more

UK insight into Covid-19 ICU

The Critical Care Unit - Health and Care Videos

So what sort of end of life decisions might need to be made if you suffering from Covid-19? Like advance care planning with other diseases, you are stepping through a series of “If, then”s. Here’s  information from the UK’s Royal College of Physicians about what happens in Covid-19 critical care. … Read more

Your Covid-19 team wants to know what you want.

Prepare For Your Care

We’ve found a good, practical, user-friendly resource that can help you with advance care planning if you become ill with Covid-19. The following message comes from, the US, one of the busiest countries dealing with Covid-19. Thank you very much to Colorado Care Planning at https://coloradocareplanning.org/ who helped us track … Read more

Jenny’s Facebook group Covid Safe Elders Australia.

Jenny McFadden has started a Facebook group, Covid Safe Elders Australia.

Jenny McFadden has started a Facebook group, Covid Safe Elders Australia. People can get in touch with the group and share their concerns about the way the elderly are being managed during Covid-19. “We’re interested in people who have experiences and stories about aged care. These experiences can help us … Read more

Compassion at the end of life in Covid-19 times.

Palliative care specialist MICHAEL BARBATO writes and teaches about how to bring love and kindness to the dying. Here are his thoughts on the challenges to this goal with Covid-19. He also has a terrific recommendation to read, Rachel Coghlan’s piece on “small but potent acts of compassion.” See the … Read more

Palliative care and Covid-19

Palliative care is adapting to meet the needs of those with Covid-19 – and people dying of other causes. Palliative Care Australia has formed the Australian COVID-19 Palliative Care Working Group (ACPCWG) in partnership with palliative care related specialist groups. These are the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM), … Read more

Exclusive: Lockdowns until 2021 possible.

We could go out of Covid-19 isolation, shutdown and quarantining, then back in again for repeated periods right up until November, 2021, staff have been warned at some Sydney hospitals. The NSW lockdown will now officially last for 90 days. This has been confirmed as we hear from sources inside … Read more

How do we ensure good palliative care in these strange times?

Palliative care in the age of Covid-19

I like strange as a word. It is non-judgmental, it says this is different, unfamiliar, something new to be navigated. However, we need to put a few things on the table: actively putting strategies in place to retain the rights and manage the needs of the dying, the suffering and … Read more