The Guidelines for a Palliative Approach to Aged Care in the Community (COMPAC)

This Palliative Care educational resource is designed to support you to apply the Guidelines for a Palliative Approach to Aged Care in the Community to your practice. It includes the knowledge, skills and values that are required to communicate and contribute to the care of clients in the community who have a life limiting illness and or are approaching the final stages of the normal ageing process.  The COMPAC guidelines have recently been incorporated into the palliAGED online resource.

This free online training is designed for the Australian health context, and is available to participants by simply creating an account and logging in. This project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and is developed by the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA), with input from industry and other specialists.

This package of online training is comprised of two groups of modules:

  1. Modules 1 – 4 are based on the COMPAC best practice guidelines known as 'The Guidelines for a Palliative Approach for Aged Care in the Community Setting'
  2. Modules 5 – 6 are skills modules covering pain management and recognising deteriorating clients.

If you are having any difficulties in accessing the training, please email training@ahha.asn.au or between 9:00am and 5:00pm Canberra time, you can call (02) 6162 0780.

  • Module 1 - A Palliative Approach to Care Icon

    Module 1 - A Palliative Approach to Care

    This module provides an understanding of how the Guidelines can support a multidisciplinary team of health professionals and service providers to deliver a palliative approach to care in the community setting.
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    Module 2 - Planning and Assessment

    This module provides an understanding of how the Guidelines can support you to plan and implement a palliative approach to care, assess palliative care needs and manage a range of client issues that may be encountered.
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    Module 3 - Providing Care to Clients and Carers

    This module has been developed to provide an understanding of how the Guidelines can support you to provide the care and support that both palliative care clients and their carers require.
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    Module 4 - Delivering a Palliative Approach for Aged Care in the Community Setting

    This module provides an understanding of how the Guidelines can support a multidisciplinary team of health professionals and service providers to deliver a palliative approach to care in the community setting.
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    Module 5 - Pain Management

    This module describes a holistic approach to the assessment and management of pain that acknowledges the physical, mental, psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of pain, and places a strong emphasis on improving client comfort and care, across a range of diseases and medical conditions.
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    Module 6 - Recognising Deteriorating Clients

    This module describes a holistic approach to the recognition, assessment and management of clients receiving palliative care during the final progressive end of life period. It acknowledges the physical, mental, psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of deterioration and dying, across a range of diseases and medical conditions. This module places a strong emphasis on improving client comfort and care and supporting clients, families and carers through the last phase of life.