Development and implementation of the Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care Project across Queensland.

There is an urgent and unmet need for specialist palliative care services in residential aged care. The Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care (SPACE) Project aimed to improve palliative and end-of-life care for older people living in residential aged care facilities in Queensland. A representative working group developed a series of service principles around palliative care practice in aged care (comprehensive resident-focused care, streamlined service, and capacity building). Funding was allocated by population to the health services in Queensland to adapt and implement models of care aligned with these principles. SPACE successfully implemented a variety of decentralised models of care across Queensland. The critical elements for the success of SPACE were the use of an expert working group to define the core innovation, networking and implementation support from the central project team and community of practice, and adaptable models of care led by local facilitators. Lessons learned from this real-world case study could be adopted to guide and ensure the successful implementation and sustainability of future complex interventions in healthcare settings, both nationally and internationally. What is known about the topic? There is limited palliative care support for the 36% of Australians who die in residential aged care. What does this paper add? This paper describes the development of the Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care (SPACE) Project, using locally tailored models of care to improve palliative and end-of-life care in aged care facilities across Queensland. What are the implications for practitioners? Critical elements for improving residents' palliative and end-of-life care included creation of an expert working group to define the innovation state-wide, a central project team that supported implementation, a community of practice, and local facilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]