end of life care

This guide explains how to support a loved one at home during end-of-life care. It covers comfort measures, symptom support, documenting care wishes, and keeping essential health and personal information organised to reduce uncertainty and stress.

Maintaining a patient’s dignity and autonomy is the cornerstone of compassionate end-of-life care. This article provides practical approaches for care teams, underpinned by documented preferences. It covers respecting cultural and spiritual rituals, honouring personal routines (like favourite music or reading), managing symptoms in line with patient priorities (e.g., preferring alertness over total sedation), and facilitating meaningful final conversations. When these personal values are recorded and accessible, they guide daily care decisions, big and small. This ensures the patient remains an active individual in their care, fostering a sense of control and peace during a vulnerable time.

Person-centred aged care places the individual — not the system — at the heart of care decisions. This guide explores practical tools that support dignity, independence, and wellbeing by aligning care with a person’s values, preferences, and life history. Discover how thoughtful planning and the right digital tools can improve communication, continuity of care, and overall quality of life for older Australians.

At life’s final transition, people expect meaning, choice and personal voice to be respected. Without structure, families and professionals face uncertainty. Supporting dignity and autonomy at this stage requires clarity, consent and ethical boundaries that hold trust.