What is palliative care?
Palliative care is special help for someone who is near the end of their life.
End of life means someone has an illness or a condition that means they will die.
Palliative care helps reduce pain.
It makes people as comfortable as possible until they die.
Palliative care can also support people to understand what is happening.
Easy read palliative care information
We have made four easy read booklets to help you understand palliative care and what to do.
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Palliative care for you
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Palliative care for people close to you
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Palliative care for children
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Talking about death and dying
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How to use these easy read resources
Palliative care for you
Palliative care is special support for someone who is dying.
If you need palliative care, read the
easy read booklet about palliative care for you to find out:
- what is palliative care
- where to get palliative care
- how to make choices about palliative care.
Palliative care for someone close to you
Palliative care can also help the family or close friends of someone who is dying.
If your family or close friends need palliative care, read the
easy read booklet about palliative care for people close to you to find out:
- what is palliative care
- about support that is available for a person who is dying
- what to expect with palliative care.
Palliative care for children
This easy read booklet has information to help you understand what palliative care is for children.
If a child in your family needs palliative care, read the
easy read booklet about palliative care for children to find out:
- what is palliative care for children
- where palliative care for children happens.
Talking about death and dying
Everyone needs to talk about death and dying.
People do not always talk to people with disability about death because they think they will be too stressed.
Read this
easy read booklet about talking about death and dying to understand what death is and how to talk about it.
How to use these easy read resources
Death, dying and palliative care is a guide to how to use these easy read resources. It may be useful for families, health practitioners and others who are reading these resources. It addresses concerns that are sometimes raised by families, supporters and health practitioners when they experience easy read for the first time.
Palliative care after hours helpline
You can call the after hours helpline when your normal support is not available.
The after hours helpline is for:
- people getting palliative care
- families
- carers of a person getting palliative care.
You can call them on
1800 548 225.
The after hours helpline is open from 5pm to 9am every day.