Managed dying. The new palliative care?
Managed dying should be about shared decision making but it rarely is. It’s usually a doctor telling patients what the most conservative option is and why they should choose it.
Advance Care Plans: The Basics
When it comes to the subject of Advance Care Planning, for many it is a case of ‘There’s always time to do it later”, until it is too late. It often takes a life limiting – or threatening – illness/condition for people to really start planning for the end of their life. Ideally though, the […]
Touchstone Life Care: Our Beliefs regarding an End of Life Plan.
Considering an End of Life Plan? Touchstone Life Care is an organisation built on a passionate belief that everyone – young or old, healthy or sick – deserves the opportunity to create an Advance Care Plan that will provide you the dignity you deserve when you need it most. We believe in: Connecting. […]
Choosing the right Residential Aged Care Facility.
Choosing an Aged Care Facility is an important consideration when it comes to your end of life planning. If – due to illness or injury – you need to be moved to a care facility, it will reduce overall stress on your loved ones if you have planned for this outcome. So how do you […]
3 Avoidable Reasons People Don’t Get the End of Life They Want
People often bounce in and out of hospital in the final years of their life – up to 8 times in their last year of life alone. But why is this the case, and surely it’s not necessary? The truth is, people often don’t have the ongoing care that they would like or need in […]
Why doctors need your Advance Care Plan
Hospitals and verbal communication Hospitals are a place where verbal communication goes to die. This is unfortunately a common truth – our modern health care system is incredible and helps many people every day, but it is also a place where people’s wishes can be missed in and people can become caught in the system. […]
Living Life Without Limits or Regrets
Particularly towards the end of life, it’s important for people to have control over how they live their life. Most people want “a good death”. Perhaps a good death is really ‘a death of one’s own.” Everyone will do it differently. Everyone will have different wants and needs. For those people who have “a good […]
6 Simple Ways to Protect Your Health
Getting Older? Getting Worried? Remember – your health is your best asset. But chronic diseases eg osteoarthritis, low back pain, diabetes, and frailty don’t have to mean early death or disability. If you are willing to make changes – no matter how small – you can improve your health. 1. Don’t stop moving, even […]
The 5 Most Important Things to Know for Your Heart Health
Statistically, your heart is the most likely thing to kill you. Unfortunately it’s the single biggest preventable killer of Australians. But if you give it some attention, you can rapidly change from risking an early death to extending your time here on earth. You won’t just live longer – your whole life will be better. […]
Dementia and decision-making capacity
The idea of capacity when it comes to decision making is complex. The word is not well understood, and it’s not as simple as having capacity or not having capacity. Health professionals may say someone “has” or “has not” capacity, meaning they can or cannot make decisions, yet this is often unhelpful as there are […]
