Compassionate Communities in Australia
“Compassionate Communities work is relatively new. It is work which seeks to transform how and where we care for each other in times of need. It challenges the dominant medicalised model of caring at end of life. As such, the work, especially at this early stage, is bound to be a site of struggle and a place where people encounter resistance/s to their efforts… What we offer in this report is evidence that this hope is realisable as all of the Compassionate Communities took multiple and diverse actions to build their communities and support each other better in times of need at end of life.”
(p.2, Researching Compassionate Communities in Australia, 2020)
The research report ‘Compassionate Communities in Australia: A short-term longitudinal study’ was released in October 2020. The research, led by Prof. Debbie Horsfall, at Western Sydney University, provides insights into the implementation of compassionate communities projects in Australia over an 18 month period. This work, started when I was working at The GroundSwell Project, was conceived as a way to gain further understandings about the processes of undertaking the community development work of ‘compassionate communities’ (ComCom). Evidence had been emerging from the UK via the Pathfinders program, that providing backbone support to projects was helpful though still challenging for the community leaders supporting the work. ComCom work in Australia had been steadily growing, influenced by the work of Prof. Allan Kellehear and Dr Julian Abel (who had visited Australia sharing his work at Compassionate Communities UK), and Andrea Grindrod and Bruce Rumbold’s work at LaTrobe University that was shaping policy development. We had also seen a massive uptake of community events in Australia due to the National Dying to Know Day Campaign.
At the time, the missing piece was related to the practice of community development.
What was it actually like to do ComCom work? What were the challenges and opportunities, what worked well and what could we learn from people actually doing the work? How might this learning inform future practice?
With these questions in mind, and before the research began, Holly Rankin-Smith and I travelled to the UK, visiting numerous hospices, community development workers and organisations. This was an incredible learning experience and one that I continue to draw upon. Many experiences stand out, and having an opportunity to spend time with the crew at Health Connections Mendip and do the community connector training in Frome was a wonderful highlight. It is great to see some of the connector programs beginning here in Australia. Another was attending a Bereavement Help Point supported by the brilliant team at St Giles Hospice. The Bereavement Help Point was a social space where people who had experienced a loss can come together to support each other. It was a wonderful experience being welcomed into the space and to hear stories of connection and resilience.
We met others too (more blogs to come!) but eveywhere we went it was clear there was still a lot to learn about compassionate communities initiatives. When we were in the UK, the research was at the early stages, so it is exciting to see the report published and in the world.
Some of the learnings in the Compassionate Communities in Australia report include:
There are a number of obstacles and barriers faced by community leaders - including for example managing gatekeepers and misinformation.
The importance of a clear understanding of Community Development as the foundation to drive strategies and actions
We know that change work takes time, and this research provides insights into the complexity involved in doing the work of relationship building, connecting and managing expectations. In particular for health professionals working in the health system who were juggling community development and clinical practice roles.
My hope is that we can continue to build on the knowledge gained from this study. In particular, there is much work to be done, on the process of collaboration and connection between services and citizens. This interface needs our attention and at the Death Literacy Institute we are committed to supporting and advancing practice in the field of public health palliative care, including the wide ranging and diverse practices that we call ‘compassionate communities’.
Have you read the report?
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Dr Kerrie Noonan, is a co-author of the study and is an adjunct Research Associate at WSU and a member of the Caring at End of Life Research Team.