End of life care - Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Some people with cancer will have preferences about where they would like to die.

Talk with your family and care team about where you would prefer to be as end of life nears. This will increase the chances of being cared for in your place of choice.

Where to die

Many people would prefer to die at home in familiar surroundings than in a palliative care unit or in a hospital ward. If this is what you want, let family and loved ones know so that you can talk about whether this is possible, and who is going to be able to help.

The palliative care team can help your family care for you at home making sure you are comfortable and able to manage your symptoms at this time.

Circumstances can change and sometimes it is not possible to die at home. You may have asked to die at home and then change your mind. That is absolutely fine. The palliative care team will be able to help support your decisions.

Dying at home may not be the right choice for you or may not be possible. You may feel more supported in palliative care unit or in a hospital.

In Peter Mac’s Palliative Care unit people of any age or stage of advanced cancer are provided with all of the care they need to be as comfortable as possible.

See information about Palliative Care Service in the Parkville precinct.

For family and carers

As a carer, you may be closely involved with the care of your loved one at the end of their life. Together, you may have decided that your loved one will die at home with the support of the palliative care team. Whilst this can be an important way of supporting a person’s wishes and preferences, it can also be a big and exhausting task.

This Cancer Council resource Caring for someone nearing the end of life contains useful information.

Residential Care Homes

People who live in residential care homes often die in their residential care home.

Many care homes will welcome and support family and loved ones at this time encouraging family to stay overnight with their loved one if they can, have pets visit, as well as see to any other individual requests of the resident and their family.

Talk with the facility manager or care coordinator about what you and your family would like to happen at the end of life. Making plans early will help ensure your wishes can be carried out.

"The staff at Mum’s care home were so supportive and responsive to our needs in her final days. Nothing was too much trouble, and we were treated with respect and sensitivity. We were able to stay with Mum in her room for her last 3 nights. Following her death, we could stay with her for as much time as we wanted and say goodbye - this was really appreciated and important for us"
Martin, son of Margory

Making timely decisions about where to die

Starting a conversation with your health care team about where you want to die is a positive step towards making timely decisions about care at the end of life.

Having these discussions early on means that everyone knows what you want and your wishes can be taken into account as decisions have to be made. are more likely to be fulfilled.

Ways to begin a conversation with your health care team

You could say	Your questions might be
I would like to talk about where I want to be when I die	What information do I need to help me decide about where I want to die?
I need some help to talk to my family about where I would like to be when I die	I want to die in a palliative care unit. Is this going to be possible?
I would like to find out about the best time to have a discussion with my family and cancer team about my care at the end of life	I want to die at home if I can. What supports will allow this to happen?
	How do my family get support to help care for me at home at the end of my life?