Improving end-of-life care is a crucial aspect of healthcare, and Advance Care Directives play a vital role in guiding end-of-life care decisions. However, a recent study published in Emergency Medicine Australasia highlights several challenges faced by ED doctors and nurses in utilising ACDs effectively.
These challenges include outdated ACDs, limited knowledge and awareness among patients and families, communication barriers, and the poor availability of ACD information at the point of care.
Touchstone Life Care’s cloud-based advance care planning management platform offers a solution to enhance end-of-life care. Our platform ensures that ACDs are up-to-date and accessible in real-time, allowing healthcare professionals to make informed decisions based on the patient’s current condition and preferences. It also offers educational resources for patients and families, helping them understand the importance of advance care planning and how to document and share their wishes accurately ahead of need, including details about preferences for individual medical scenarios, to help decision-makers make better-informed decisions.
The platform facilitates clear and effective communication among healthcare providers, patients and families, supports collaborative decision-making, and helps get everyone on the same page regarding end-of-life care goals. It is currently used in trauma situations, as well as ICU, residential care and home care to help make sure ACDs and other critical documents such as Goals of Care are readily available to ED staff, including by scannable QR code, reducing the risk of incomplete information and unnecessary interventions that do not align with the patient’s wishes.
By leveraging Touchstone Life Care’s technology, we are overcoming the barriers identified in this study and helping to facilitate compassionate, patient-centred care at the end of life. Join us in transforming advance care planning and ensuring that every patient’s voice is heard when it matters most.
To read the study, please visit the Emergency Medicine Australasia website.
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