Care Plus Implementation Package: a toolkit for bringing Care Plus to your local health service
The Care Plus Implementation Package gives clinicians the practical tools to implement Care Plus, and is now available for use.
What is in the Care Plus package?
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This collection of resources guides the implementation of the Care Plus pathway, which aims to improve equitable access to early palliative care by standardising patient cohorts, timing and delivery.
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The toolkit leads readers through three phases of implementation to effectively establish and evaluate this outpatient-focused model that is co-designed with the relevant referring and palliative teams.
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Implementation resources are provided to aid this change in practice, while still accounting for site-specific and organisational settings.
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Resources may be adapted to local organisational context and needs. Implementation teams are encouraged to connect with local governance and quality-improvements departments.
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The strategies provided demonstrate the utility of Care Plus for various cancer streams, hospital sites and organisational processes. Care Plus has been developed in accordance with implementation science framework principles to implement the practice change in an acceptable, feasible, effective, scalable and sustainable manner.
It includes:
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A PDF outlining a flexible and responsive approach to early palliative care within existing health service systems
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Key areas, activities and processes to implement at your local site
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Editable and printable staff resources
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Printable PDF's of patient information postcard and flyer
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Example narratives to introduce early palliative care to patients, families and carers
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A PowerPoint slide deck to present a case for change and for staff training.
Who is the Care Plus package for?
This implementation package for standardised and equitable access to early palliative care has been developed for clinicians at hospital- based healthcare services.
There is no financial cost to access or use the implementation package and you are free to share and build upon the content under the terms outlined in the license.
How was the package developed?
Built on extensive foundational evidence, the Care Plus implementation study gathered strategies and lessons to develop a resource package for health-service providers to implement a standardised and integrated approach to early palliative care for advanced cancer patients.
Care Plus has been developed in accordance with implementation science framework principles to implement the practice change in an acceptable, feasible, effective, scalable and sustainable manner.
How to access the Care Plus
Implementation Package?
Register below and the resource package will be immediately emailed to your nominated address.
Care Plus is available free for use as designed under Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0) licensing conditions. View the licensing conditions.
There is no financial cost to access or use the implementation package and you are free to share and build upon the content under the terms outlined in the license.
Is there a Community of Practice?
If you are interested in discussing and sharing the challenges and successes of integrating early palliative and oncological care at your local site, we are looking to establish a Community of Practice.
Indicate your interest on the request form or email
Referring team
“What Care Plus has probably done is strengthen the communication links between our two kind of services.”
Palliative team
"It was an opportunity to show (patients), these are other areas that we can support you with while you’re well and while you’re having treatment… it makes it easier to have the end-of-life conversation at that time knowing that they perhaps have some understanding of what you can do to support them and some trust made.”
Patients
"It’s trying to help people to understand that whilst, yes, there is an endpoint in the not-too-distant horizon, there’s plenty of time between now and then. Different amounts for different people, obviously. But there’s plenty of time between now and then for us to make our lives the best they possibly could be in this period of time."