Last days of life

Guidance documents, endorsed by New Zealand professional health organisations, outlining the essential components and considerations required to promote quality care at the end of life for all adults in New Zealand. This includes a set of checklists, flowcharts, tools and patient resources to be used for individual patients at the end of life.

 

Resources 

Last days of life – recognising dying | Ngā rangi whakamutunga o te oranga – te kite i te matenga Health Quality & Safety Commission, NZ

  • This last days of life resource is part of the Frailty Care Guides from HQSC, NZ covering the spectrum of frailty from deterioration to communication and advance treatment planning.
 

Te Ara Whakapiri: Principles and guidance for the last days of life Ministry of Health, NZ

  • Outlines the essential components and considerations required to promote quality care at the end of life for all adults in New Zealand.
  • Provides examples of useful approaches and tools that will serve as aids for the development of national and/or local resources as part of implementation.
 

Te Ara Whakapiri: Toolkit Ministry of Health, NZ

  • Defines what adult New Zealanders can expect as they approach the end of their life.
  • It is a statement of guiding principles and components for the care of adults in their last days of life across all settings, including the home, residential care, hospitals and hospices.
 

Ongoing care of the dying person Ministry of Health, NZ

 
 

Care in the last days of life Ministry of Health, NZ
 

Recognising the dying person – flow chart Ministry of Health, NZ

 
 

Medical management planning - general principles Ministry of Health, NZ

 
 

Bereavement risk assessment tool Ministry of Health, NZ

 
 

Symptom management guidelines Ministry of Health, NZ

 
 

Discharge checklist Ministry of Health, NZ

This checklist will help facilitate a safe, smooth and seamless transition from hospital/hospice care for the dying person who chooses to be cared for at home.
 

When death approaches Ministry of Health, NZ

  • Knowing what to expect as death approaches can help make this time less worrying.
  • This information sheet describes the symptoms that commonly occur when someone is near the end of their life, provides practical advice for when a person is dying at home and explains what might happen afterwards.
  • Each person is unique, and these symptoms may not occur in every instance, nor will they necessarily happen in any particular order.
 

Dying at home Ministry of Health, NZ

  • Dying is different for every person and for every family/whānau.
  • It is important to do whatever feels right during this time.
  • In our multicultural society, it is important we accept the traditions surrounding death that exist in our different cultures.
  • This information sheet gives practical advice relating to the point of death and what follows.
 

Home care in the last days of life Ministry of Health, NZ