The latest issue of Media Watch, compiled and annotated by Barry R. Ashpole (Ontario, Canada) can now be downloaded here. More reports can be found at IPCRC.NET
Articles from Asia Pacific Region:
Fresh call for improved palliative care in residential aged care
AUSTRALIA | Australian Ageing Agenda – 21 October 2016 – New data released this week showed that among 231,500 residents with completed Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) appraisals in 2014-15, 9,144 residents, had indicated the need for palliative care. Odette Waanders, CEO of Palliative Care Victoria, found the gap between the need for palliative care among the residents and the recognition and response for it is of extreme concern. Qualitative research would be valuable to identify factors for the variability in facilities and for improvement in standards, said Ms Waanders. However, Professor Deborah Parker, director of the New South Wales Centre for Evidence Based Health Care, said it was important to distinguish that ACFI is a resource allocation instrument, not taken to represent the number of residents who require aged care facilities. https://goo.gl/hFcV6C
Ministry considers program to share end-of-life wishes of elderly with ER doctors, paramedics
JAPAN | The Japan Times (Tokyo) – 17 October 2016 – There is an increase in elderly terminally ill patients, and doctors have to try to revive them following collapse despite the patients’ wishes, they are unsure. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will back a system that allows nurses, paramedics and doctors who provide home care for elderly patients to share information and makes a record of their end-of-life wishes. “Some fire department officials perform CPR regardless of the patients’ will. We need a guideline,” said Seishiro Marukawa, who heads the panel deciding on the guidelines. He also added that it’s best to respect the will of the patient and rely on their personal doctor rather than ER doctors and paramedics. “Many family members ask us to do everything we can,” Ryota Konishi who heads the emergency room at a hospital in Kawasaki said. “But if they have been bedridden for a long time and have no prospect for recovery, we aren’t sure if life support is the best option.”