Disadvantaged Australians missing out on end-of-life planning and care: research
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Homeless and chronically mentally ill people are missing out on end-of-life planning and care, according to research commissioned by support service Footprints.
Chief executive Cherylee Treloar said it was a demographic of people who had been at a disadvantage during the majority of their lives, but should not remain so at the very end.
She said the research highlighted the cares of Australia's most marginalised people.
"Their cares are very similar," she said.
"They care about being found if they die, they care that people know who they are, they care that if they have specific wishes that those wishes are actually known."
She said people from that group often have one or two chronic illness by middle age, and age prematurely.
There's not the care there. Community care doesn't often go into places like that.
Footprints researcher Lynne Megginson
"In planning for end of life, a lot of people we've come across don't even realise they're dying, they just have a sense they're sicker than normal," she said.
The research found homeless people living at boarding houses were at risk of being moved on if they were diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Nurse and head Footprints researcher Lynne Megginson said boarding houses were not equipped to deal with terminal illness.
"The managers of boarding houses, you know they're not clinicians, they're not nurses or doctors, and they often struggle when someone deteriorates," she said.
"There's not the care there. Community care doesn't often go into places like that."
She said boarding houses could not be expected to offer end of life care services without support.
"When someone deteriorates to the point where they're in and out of hospital they get quite afraid," she said.
"They often encourage people to be rehoused, but often there's nowhere else for them to go."
Ms Megginson said the research made clear that homeless Australians "do really want to make plans".
"You might think someone that hasn't got very much and doesn't look after themselves very well might not want to make plans, but actually they do," she said.
The researchers said they hoped the study would help pave the way for better end of life support and care for Australia's most vulnerable people.
Topics: homelessness, community-and-society, death, mental-health, health, tas
