What is End-of-Life Essentials?

End of Life Essentials logo End of Life Essentials (EOLE) is a project funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care and developed by a team at Flinders University. EOLE provides free education modules on end of life care in acute hospitals, based on the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Consensus Statements on End of Life Care in Acute Hospitals.

EOLE aims to provides e-learning opportunities and resources for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to improve the quality and safety of end-of-life care in hospitals.

What does EOLE provide?

EOLE provides a range of resources including self-paced eLearning modules, toolkits, and training materials for educators.

Education modules

EOLE essentials currently provides 17 education modules on the following topics:

  • Dying, a normal part of life
  • The importance of coordinating patient care
  • End-of-life care for diverse communities
  • Chronic complex illness end-of-life care
  • Emergency department end-of-life care
  • Paediatric end-of-life care
  • Patient-centred communication and shared decision-making
  • Recognising the end of life
  • Planning end-of-life care: Goals of care
  • Teams and continuity for the patient
  • Responding to concerns
  • Imminent death - how to respond
  • States of mind at the end of life
  • Assessing patient states of mind at the end of life
  • Clinical management of anxiety, depression and more
  • Meeting the Standards
  • Clinical change management.

The modules help to develop the skills to recognise end-of-life issues, to enhance communication strategies and to gain confidence in caring for these patients and their families.

Toolkits

The My Toolkits section provide downloadable action checklists and resources with links to videos, blogs, podcasts and further reading to support what has been learnt in the education modules and to help in applying this knowledge in practice.

Training resources for educator

End-of-Life Essentials have developed a suite of training resources that can be adapted and used in many teaching contexts covering the topics:

  • Death as a normal part of life
  • Recognising dying
  • Imminent death
  • Communication
  • Team work
  • After a death

Accreditation resources

The EOLE Accreditation Collaborative partners with hospitals to share, develop and learn more about the delivery of end-of-life care in meeting the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards. Accreditation resources including case stories and actions needed to meet the Standards are available.


To find out more about End of Life Essentials, visit the End of Life Essentials website at  https://www.endoflifeessentials.com.au

For further information, please contact eolessentials@flinders.edu.au 

Last updated 16 November 2023