Palliative Care – A Community Affair

This week is National Palliative care week (NPCW), 6th October to 12th October 2002. It is the national awareness week held each year across Australia which works to promote and raise awareness of Palliative Care in Australia.

The launch of National Palliative Care Week will be held on Wednesday 9th October 2002 at the Treasury Gardens in Melbourne. The Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson will officially launch the week.

This year, National Palliative Care Week is part of an overall program on Community Awareness that will incorporate a range of activities over the next 12 months. The planned outcomes for the campaign are:

1. Increased community awareness of palliative care.

2. Community capacity building with regard to palliative care

3. Improved awareness of palliative care within the health care system and broader health community.

Each state and territory will be holding workshops and forums with guest speakers. For more information, see the Palliative Care Australia website.