This year’s Compassionate Communities Australia National Forum, to be held in Brisbane next month, aims to champion collective action to drive system change and embed compassion across all settings, from homes to workplaces, local government, health care and aged care services.
The forum to be held at the Brisbane State Library on Tuesday 9 September, will highlight national, community-led initiatives advocating for compassionate approaches to caring, dying and grieving.
Professor Samar Aoun AM, Chair of Compassionate Communities Australia, 2023 Australian of the Year Western Australia and Perron Institute Research Chair in Palliative Care at The University of Western Australia, said the forum reflected the escalating need for compassionate community-led approaches to care, since formal systems alone cannot sustainably support people through illness, ageing, end of life, dying and grieving.
“Palliative care-related hospitalisations have doubled, and with Australia’s ageing population, the number of deaths is expected to double over the next 20 years, with no possible resources available to match these needs,” Professor Aoun said.
“Now is the time to make end-of-life care more inclusive, compassionate, community-driven and truly accessible for everyone, everywhere.
“Adopting a Compassionate Communities approach to care recognises that it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that when caregiving, dying and grieving knocks at our door, wherever we are, whoever we are, compassionate support can be found in all aspects of our life and death.”
Professor Aoun said that by the end of the forum, key actions would be identified to strengthen and sustain Compassionate Communities in Australia, foster innovation in systems to better support community-led care and clarify who needed to partner with community to drive collective change.
Keynote speakers and presenters from across Australia, representing clinical, government, academic, and nonprofit sectors, will present during the first half of the forum, which will also welcome international guests, Professor Allan Kellehear OBE (Compassionate Communities UK and Northumbria University) and Professor Luc Deliens (Public Health Palliative Care International and VUB Compassionate University of Brussels).
Compassionate Communities in Australia is encouraging community members from diverse backgrounds and sectors to attend — health professionals, carers, aged care providers, the palliative care sector, local government representatives, workplace leaders, advocates for compassionate communities, practitioners, support workers, policy makers, volunteers, and members of the wider community.
Watch the highlights video of the forum here
Article source: UWA News