Why is it important that we have tailored information resources to support our carers?
Websites provide easy access to information about death and dying to Australians who don’t feel comfortable talking about this subject.
Tailored information can help end-of-life care to be less challenging, more hand-held, and improve the overall experience for the person, their carer, and their extended loved ones.
CarerHelp provides the information to equip, encourage and lead Australian carers through the necessary conversations involved. This is what we want for all Australians - to help them to receive the best palliative care available, understand when they have reached the end of their life, and be laid to rest with dignity.
Can you tell us about healthdirect and how it collaborates with others to support the needs of diverse Australians, including those with palliative care needs or carers for persons at the end of life?
Healthdirect Australia is proud to add value in areas of healthcare where there is pressure to deliver, we are a national trusted source of health information, we have a vested interest in working to provide best-practice healthcare information and services to Australians. The healthdirect website receives over 50 million visits per year.
Healthdirect Australia has built an Information Partnership network which includes organisations such as CarerHelp, CareSearch, ELDAC, palliAGED, Palliative Care Australia, Carers Australia and the state-based Carers organisations, as well as disease based peak body organisations, hospitals our Government Department of Health shareholders, and research institutes.
" What we want for all Australians is to help them to receive the best palliative care available, understand when they have reached the end of their life, and be laid to rest with dignity. "
Through the healthdirect website, Information Partnerships and services, we are able to direct health consumers to Australia’s evidence-based resources when they are looking for help – which includes those who care for the most vulnerable at the end of their lives.
Australia is a diverse and multicultural country. This, coupled with factors such as low health literacy, distance, transport, cost and service availability, impact people’s ability to manage their own health.
Healthdirect supports easy access to the trusted information, advice and services required to manage personal health and wellbeing, wherever you are and whenever you need it and this purpose underpins everything we do. Our websites and services are designed to:
- Provide equal access to quality healthcare for all Australians
- Provide trusted health information and advice
- Support existing health care across Australia
- Meet health consumer expectations
- Operate around the clock in a multi-channel environment
- Improve health literacy to enable people to make informed decisions about their health
- Respond to public health emergencies
- Collect and interpret data
" Tailored information can help end-of-life care to be less challenging. "
We offer audio-readers on all of our health information pages, multilanguage videos on how to navigate the Australian health system, use infographics and captioned video content, and provide consumers with the tools they need such as question-builders and risk-checkers. All of our content is printer friendly and designed for mobile use, with pages structured for ease of use.
Together, with our Information Partners such as CarerHelp, we are able to bring expert information to health consumers and be part of a connected community to improve access to Australian health information and services.
What do you look forward to in the CarerHelp Diversity Project?
We look forward to working with the CarerHelp team to support the needs of diverse Australians. Publishing the CarerHelp diversity resources to the healthdirect website and providing them as a referral resource for nurses on the healthdirect helpline ensures they are available 24-hours a day for those in need.