Full Guide Of End-Of-Life Care Options In Melbourne Australia
Are you aware that a significant number of Australians, around 50%, passed away in a hospital, often without having their end-of-life care options? This can be an uncomfortable reality for many families, highlighting the critical need for comprehensive and accessible end-of-life care options. A diverse range of end-of-life care options like traditional palliative care, hospice services, voluntary assisted dying, advance care planning, and innovative memorial options like Living Legacy Trees are available for you in Melbourne.
Understanding this full guide can make a huge difference. You are ready for crucial information, such as where the available services, how much the costs, and how to access them, are going to help you manage your end-of-life care.
Don’t worry, in Melbourne, there are various compassionate end-of-life care options full of comfort and support to your family. You always have available options to make informed decisions with peace of mind as your guarantee.
What Are The Types Of End-Of-Life Care Options In Melbourne?
When facing a serious illness, it’s good to know your options. Here are end-of-life care options in Melbourne:
1. Palliative Care: This is all about making you comfortable. It focuses on managing your pain and other symptoms to improve your quality of life, no matter what your illness is. Sometimes a team of specialists helps, or your regular doctor and nurses might provide it.
2. Hospice Care: Think of this as a special home-like place where you get comforting, all-round support during the last stages of an illness. It’s designed to keep you comfortable and respected, often in a calm environment with professional help.
3. Home Care Services: If you prefer to stay in your own home, these services bring professional support right to you. This can include nurses, other health professionals, help for your caregivers, and even medical equipment.
4. Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD): In Victoria, if you meet strict rules, you can choose the timing and way of your death with medical guidance. This became legal in 2019.
5. Advance Care Planning: This is where you write down your wishes for future medical treatment. It makes sure your choices are clear and followed, even if you can’t speak for yourself later on.
6. Innovative Memorial Services: Beyond medical and personal care, end-of-life care also includes how you want to be remembered. Melbourne offers innovative memorial options that go beyond traditional burial or cremation, like transforming ashes into “Living Legacy Trees” at Mornington Green Living Legacy Gardens located in the beautiful Mornington Peninsula.
Where Can I Have End-Of-Life Care In Melbourne Australia?
You have several end-of-life care options in Melbourne, depending on what’s best for you:
1. Hospitals: Many major hospitals offer special care for people nearing the end of life. For major hospital palliative care units, these options are available:
a. Austin Health Palliative Care Unit (Ward 8 South, Olivia Newton John Cancer Centre). Visit Website.
b. Royal Melbourne Hospital Palliative Care Unit (Ward 7 West, Parkville). Visit Website.
c. Northern Health Palliative Care Unit (Epping). Visit Website.
d. Sunshine Hospital Palliative Care Unit (St Albans). Visit Website.
2. Hospices: These are like peaceful, comfortable homes designed specifically for this type of care. For dedicated hospice facilities, you can choose these followings:
a. Caritas Christi Hospice (20-bed facility in Kew). Visit Website.
b. Various hospital-based hospice units across metropolitan Melbourne.
3. Aged Care Homes: If you’re already living in an aged care facility, you can often receive care there. If you are interested in community-based services, you can visit these places:
a. Mercy Palliative Care (serving North and West Metropolitan Melbourne). Visit Website.
b. Melbourne City Mission (covering Hume, Merri-bek, Darebin, and Yarra). Visit Website.
c. St Vincent’s PallCare@Home (serving City of Yarra, Boroondara, and Darebin). Visit Website.
4. Own Home: You can get professional support, like nurses and other helpers, right in your own house through Private services such as:
e. Call on Clare (24-hour in-home palliative care). Visit Website
f. Alfred Health Palliative Care Clinic (St Kilda Road). Visit Website.
4. Special Memorial Gardens: Places like Mornington Green Living Legacy Gardens also offer unique ways to live on in nature by planting a tree with cremated ashes. Ashes are turned into tree food using a special patented process by The Living Legacy Forest.
Mornington Green is located at 125 Tyabb-Tooradin Rd, Somerville, Victoria. There are already more than 1500 families planting 1500 trees at Mornington Green Living Legacy Gardens. Imagine a peaceful botanical garden where memories live on and connect providing a heartwarming sanctuary to our future generations.
What Are The Features Of End-Of-Life Care In Melbourne?
What makes end-of-life care special? In Melbourne it is designed to provide you with comfort and support. Here’s what you can expect:
1. Comfort First: A big part of end of life care is managing your pain and other symptoms using the best methods available to keep you comfortable.
2. Team Effort: You’ll have a team of different experts helping you. This might include doctors, nurses, social workers, counselors, and therapists who look after your physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
3. Family Included: Your family is a key part of the care, and their needs and feelings are considered every step of the way.
4. Respecting Your Wishes: Your care plan will be shaped around your personal preferences and values, making sure your journey is unique to you.
5. Cultural Understanding: Your cultural background is respected and understood in how your care is provided.
A New Way to Remember Loved Ones
Beyond the care itself, many families want a meaningful way to honor someone after they’ve passed. Mornington Green Living Legacy Gardens offers a unique option by turning cremated ashes into A Living Legacy memorial tree.
Unlike scattering ashes, which can harm nature, their special process makes the ashes into nutrients that can help a tree grow and thrive. This means your loved one literally becomes part of a beautiful tree, continuing their life in a new way for generations.
Imagine visiting a vibrant cherry blossom tree on a special day, knowing it grew from the person you cherished. This garden offers a peaceful, living alternative to traditional cemeteries, and even allows multiple family members to share the same “family tree.”
What Are The Services Of End-Of-Life Care?
When you receive end-of-life care in Melbourne, a full range of services is there to support your comfort and well-being. The following points are usually included:
1. Doctor and Nurse Care: This includes managing your pain and symptoms, taking care of your medications, and ensuring all your medical needs are met. Nurses are also there for hands-on care, wound treatment, and teaching your family. Many services have nurses on call 24/7 for urgent help.
2. Support from Other Professionals: You’ll get help from a team including physical therapists (for movement), occupational therapists (for daily tasks), speech therapists (for eating/speaking), dietitians (for food), and social workers (for emotional and practical help).
3. Emotional & Spiritual Well-being: Care also focuses on your feelings and spiritual needs. This means access to counseling, support groups, and spiritual guidance. Importantly, your family also receives support for their grief, even after you’re gone.
4. Practical Help: This covers things like getting necessary equipment (beds, wheelchairs), making small changes to your home, help with transport, and ensuring all your different care providers are working together smoothly.
5. Continued Family Support: Your family will continue to receive help and guidance with their grief for a long period after your death, often for over a year.
What Is The Process Of End-Of-Life Care Options In Melbourne, Australia?
Understanding the steps involved in end-of-life care options in Melbourne can help you feel more in control. There is a simple guide to be aware of the process, namely:
1. First Steps (Getting Assessed): It starts with figuring out what you need. Healthcare providers will look at your symptoms, how you’re doing day-to-day, your emotional well-being, and how your family is coping. This helps them decide the best way to support you.
2. Building Your Care Plan: This is where your wishes really matter. You’ll talk with your care team and family about what you want for your future medical care, and you can write it down in an “advance care directive.” This to make sure your plan will always match your personal values.
3. Connected Care: The team makes sure all parts of your care are linked. If you go from the hospital to home, or if your care needs change, they ensure everything flows smoothly so you always have the support you need.
4. Ongoing Check-ups and Changes: Your care team will regularly check in to see how you’re feeling and how well your symptoms are managed. If anything changes with your health, your plan will be updated to make sure you’re getting the right level of care, including calling in specialists if necessary.
5. Help for Your Loved Ones: Your family will be supported not just during your illness but also after you’ve passed. This includes follow-up calls, guidance for grieving, and connections to support groups to help them through their loss.
How Much Does End Of Life Care Cost In Melbourne?
Let’s talk more about the cost to clear your end-of-life care guesses. The cost of end of life care options in Melbourne can vary a lot, depending on the type of care and where you receive it. Well, most of it is covered by the government, but there can be some extra costs (also) depending on your choices.
What the government helps with (usually free or low cost):
1. Hospital Palliative Care: If you’re in a public hospital, your palliative care is almost always fully covered by Medicare.
2. Home Nursing: Getting palliative nursing care at home is usually free through government programs.
3. Doctor Visits: Your GP visits usually get a Medicare rebate, meaning you only pay a small “gap” fee, if any.
4. Medicines: Many essential medicines are made much cheaper by the government (PBS), so you won’t pay more than about $42.50 per prescription.
What you might pay for (out-of-pocket costs):
1. Private Nurses: If you want private nursing at home, it can cost around $35 to $65 per hour.
2. Renting Equipment: Special equipment like hospital beds might cost $5 to $15 a day to rent.
3. Private Hospitals: If you choose a private hospital, you might have to pay extra fees depending on your health insurance.
Of all the breakdown costs, you should also see from the bigger picture. Research shows that the final year of life can be expensive for healthcare, averaging around $24,000. However, getting the right palliative care can actually lower these costs by helping you avoid unnecessary hospital stays and treatments.
Is there another alternative? Yes! This choice is going to be a new way to remember with a friendly budget. Your end-of-life care with a Living Legacy Tree at Mornington Green can be a transformative choice, starting from around $7,000. This is often much cheaper than a traditional funeral (which can be $17,000 to $38,000!) and it’s also good for the environment, turning ashes into nutrients for a beautiful tree.
Your Final Choice: Compassion, Comfort, And Lasting Legacy
You have end-of-life care options in Melbourne that offer compassion and comfort. No matter if you need medical help, emotional support, or a meaningful way to be remembered, there are options that fit your values.
Great end-of-life care is more than just managing an illness; it’s about truly living until the end and leaving something special behind. Consider Living Legacy Trees at Mornington Green Living Legacy Gardens. It’s a unique chance for your final act to become a positive gift, turning grief into new life and making an ending a beautiful new start.
Think about it: your end-of-life care should at least help you free from financial burden, recreate memories for years to come, and possibly, a legacy for you, your families, and nature to create meaningful storytelling about your family trees.
Want to know more? Reach out to Mornington Green Legacy Gardens by calling (03) 9059 4959. They can chat with you about your end-of-life options and show you how Living Legacy Trees can grow into a beautiful, lasting memorial year after year.
Because our loved ones deserve to bloom forever.
