Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA)

The Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach [PEPA] is a national program funded by the Australian Government under the National Palliative Care Program. It started in 2003 as a means of providing primary health care practitioners from a range of disciplines, with an opportunity to undertake a clinical attachment within a specialist metropolitan or larger regional palliative care service, to develop knowledge and skills in the palliative approach. The continuing success of PEPA has meant that it was extended to the end to May 2006, and then extended again to the end of May 2010. At a national level PEPA is now managed by Queensland University of Technology and in South Australia by the SA Department of Health.

Background

The growing demand for palliative care means that increasingly health professionals are called upon to provide palliative care as a core part of their practice. This requires an informed health sector, with health care providers aware of and committed to the benefits that palliative care offers to people with a life-limiting disease and their families.

Palliative care is not limited to the final weeks of life. It can contribute to care decisions early in the course of any life-limiting disease and is relevant to managing symptoms in many clinical situations. PEPA aims to improve the quality, availability and access to palliative care for people who are dying and their families.

Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) Update 2007-2010

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who have helped to make PEPA such a success to date. Since the first placements in 2003, feedback from participants, employers and host sites confirmed that PEPA has been an invaluable means of providing experience and skills to a wide range of health care professionals engaged in end-of-life care.

In the third iteration, PEPA will continue to:

PEPA 2007-2010 is open to any health care workers (GPs, nurses, allied health professionals and aboriginal health workers) who provide clinical care to people at the end of life and are interested in developing their skills and experience by spending a limited period of time in a specialist palliative care service. Specialist palliative care clinicians can also apply for a placement in another palliative care service that can provide a unique learning and development experience that is not available in their own service

In addition, this new phase of PEPA provides an opportunity for extra focus on:

Let me take this opportunity to invite you to consider what PEPA can offer you, as well as the agency in which you work and the community which you serve. The information kit will assist and clarify the application process for those interested in a PEPA placement. Please send the completed application form to the PEPA Manager at the address below. For those applicants seeking a placement with the SA Paediatric Palliative Care Service, a police check will be required, and a consent form has been provided for this task. The consent for police check form will need to be sent to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital address located at the bottom of that form.

Janet Taylor
SA PEPA Project Manager
Statewide Strategic Projects, Operations Division
SA Health, Level 6
PO Box 287, Rundle Mall
Adelaide SA 5000
Phone (08) 8226 6428
janet.taylor@health.sa.gov.au

Peta Jackson
Aboriginal PEPA Project Manager
Phone (08) 8226 6491
peta.jackson@health.sa.gov.au