Any death of a loved person is usually a time of unbelievable pain for family and friends. When it is in a residential aged care home, it sometimes can be harder to reconcile, particularly, as some people may have found it hard to rationalise the need for the loved person to enter aged care in the first place.
A new set of resources have been developed by Flinders University, SA Health and grief information service GriefLink with funding from SA Health’s Palliative Care 2020 Grants program, with the highlight being a new booklet: ‘When someone dies in residential aged care: Grief and loss for families’, which was released this week to coincide with National Palliative Care Week.
“The information will help at many levels, from the major changes and adjustments required for moving from the family home, to practical and financial considerations for daily activities and personal care needs in residential aged care,” said Flinders University’s Professor Jennifer Tieman.
“After people go through these major life changes, families have to face the realities of advances in ageing, disease and dementia, and finally the shock of the family member dying.”
“Being older and being in aged care does not lessen the loss that families feel when a family member dies so we hope to demystify some of these natural processes with this major new initiative,” she added.
Almost one-third of deaths occur in residential aged care in South Australia.
You can access the booklet by clicking here.
