Shannon’s Bridge will launch its End of Life Care Hub in Creswick next Wednesday.
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The hub, a Victorian first, will be used as a model to roll out across the rest of the state.
Jeremy McNight said the idea behind the hub was his daughter.
“Shannon was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia and underwent two years of treatment in Melbourne and Sydney,” he said.
“When doctors ran out of treatment options, Shannon was asked where she would like to be when she passed away. She said at home.”
“We are in Talbot, so when we got home, we realised the services available in Melbourne and Ballarat did not extend out that far,” Mr McNight said.
“We were very fortunate to have been introduced to Dr Claire Hepper and Dr Alison O’Neill, both from Creswick, who came out and trained my wife and I with medications they left us with.”
He said he and his wife used the kit to treat Shannon’s pain four times during her final four days.
“It allowed us to keep Shannon at home, where she wanted to be.”
Mr McNight said being his daughter’s carer became his entire world and the kindness of people in the community and at hospitals made a real difference.
It was this that inspired Shannon to give back to the community by improving palliative care.
As a carer, you can’t do your everyday tasks. You can’t clean the house or do the shopping. We now have over 50 volunteers helping families in situations similar to what we were to help with these things.
- Jeremy McKnight
“Dr Hepper said it would be handy to have more packs, similar to the one we were given, to have on hand for people in similar circumstances. So we raised money for two packs,. which we named Shannon Packs, and it took off from there.
“As we were raising money for the care packs, we learnt the packs were good, but didn’t cover everything carers needed in a palliative situation. So we then started training volunteers to go into people’s homes.
“As a carer, you can’t do your everyday tasks. You can’t clean the house or do the shopping. We now have over 50 volunteers helping families in situations similar to what we were to help with these things,” he said.
“We have volunteers who are qualified in different areas like massage, reiki, horticulture, music and art therapy.”
Mr McKnight said the care was not just for patients, but also for carers, as they were often the ones who burnt out.
“We once coordinated these services for people after the hours of our normal jobs. That was difficult. So we have been very fortunate in securing government funding,” he said.
“We are setting this hub up, but similar hubs will eventually roll out to other sites throughout Victoria.”
During the opening week, beginning Wednesday August 8 and ending Saturday August 11, speakers will emphasise the importance of palliative care in speaking about a range of topics from writing biographies to Chinese medicine, pet therapy and advance care planning.
“Palliative care is not just for the elderly or people with terminal illnesses. It’s about making plans.
“Especially in rural areas, people may think everything is covered and they are okay, but in reality, depending on what area you live in, the services may not be there,” he said.
“So part of our role is to educate people as to what they do and don’t have and to make an end of life plan.”