National Palliative Care Week 2021

National Palliative Care Week 2021 was held from Sunday 23 May – Saturday 29 May, with the theme “Palliative Care It’s more than you think.”, which seeks to raise awareness about the many benefits of quality palliative care. One of the great myths about palliative care is that it is only a synonym for end-of-life care. It is so much more than that. Palliative care can help people with life-limiting illnesses to live as well as possible, for as long as possible – supporting their physical, emotional, spiritual and social needs.

Thank you to all who supported National Palliative Care Week 2021 by participating in important conversations in the community about the benefits of quality palliative care, and celebrating the amazing dedication of all those working and volunteering in palliative care across Australia. Some highlights of the week can be seen in the video below.

Media release, National Palliative Care Community Survey Snapshot and Palliative Care It's more than you think. website

Campaign resources

Download and share our range of online NPCW 2021 campaign resources here, including:

logos (JPEGs)
posters (PDFs)
social media tiles (JPEGs)
website and social media banners (JPEGs)
email (signature block) (JPEGs)
Media Release template & Toolkit (Word doc.)

Launch of NPCW 2021

Professor Meera Agar, Chair of Palliative Care Australia, launches National Palliative Care Week 2021

Events

If you or your organisation are holding an event during the week, please feel free to send us all the relevant information to communications@palliativecare.org.au so PCA can help you promote your event.

Be sure to also make contact with your State or Territory’s Member Organisation.

PCA Live Webcast – What is Palliative Care – It’s more than you think.

What do Australians know and understand about palliative care, and does community understanding about palliative care and its benefits, present a barrier to accessing timely care?

Palliative Care Australia together with our two Parliamentary Friends Co-Convenors, the Hon Nola Marino MP and Senator Catryna Bilyk, held the May Parliamentary Friends of Palliative Care event held during NPCW.

Our host, ABC presenter Di Darmody, explored these issues, discussed the key findings from the latest survey examining Australians’ attitudes and awareness of palliative care, and revealed Palliative Care Australia's innovative national education campaign – Palliative Care It’s more than you think. which has been created to challenge perceptions and engage the community in a conversation about the benefits of palliative care.

Speakers at this event were:

The Hon Nola Marino MP – Co-Convenor of the Parliamentary Friends of Palliative Care
Professor Meera Agar – Chair, Palliative Care Australia and Professor of Palliative Medicine, IMPACCT Centre, University of Technology, Sydney
Helen Walker – Deputy Chair, Palliative Care Australia and Clinical Services Coordinator, Laurel Hospice in Adelaide
Mike Sarah – Creative Director, Couch Creative
Les Winton – Researcher & Insight Provider, Winton Sustainable Research Strategies

The new campaign website explains clearly and simply what palliative care is, who it is for, who can provide it, and where palliative care can be provided, together with answers to frequently asked questions.

Watch the Parliamentary Friends of Palliative Care | What is palliative care? It’s more than you think. event here.

What is palliative care?

Palliative care helps people living with a life-limiting illness to live as well as they can by managing pain and symptoms to ensure their quality of life is maintained. Palliative care identifies and treats symptoms that may be physical, emotional, spiritual or social.

Learn more and download a copy of  PCA’s brochure, “What is palliative care?” here.

Frequently Asked Questions

There are a lot of common misconceptions about palliative care. Answers to some of the more frequently asked questions can be found in our FAQs here.

Palliative Care Stories

Palliative care is more than just care provided at the end of life. It gives people the chance to live as well as possible, for as long as possible. One in three Australians have had a family member receive palliative care, many in the community have inspiring and informative stories to share about living, dying and palliative care. Palliative Care Stories (previously called Palliative Matters) is a regular series published on the PCA website that helps tell their stories.