To address the challenges of service delivery and ensure that quality of care is not compromised, APCA is supporting and promoting on-going quality improvement in governance, holistic care provision, education and information management around palliative care. APCA's goal is to ensure that palliative care standards are integrated into national health standards and protocols so that patients receive services that meet minimum standards that actually enhance a patient's quality of life. From these standards, APCA is also supporting the development and use of evidence-based practice guidelines, and ensuring that palliative care indicators are included in the National Health Management Information Systems (NHMIS) so that palliative care outcomes are measurable.
Technical assistance for the roll-out and adoption, or adaptation, of palliative care standards at all levels of the health system (i.e. national and service provider levels) is also provided to individual organisations, national palliative care associations and ministries of health. This includes access to APCA's Palliative Care Standards, guidelines for palliative care implementation, audit tools and expertise to support service audits/assessments, and development and integration of quality improvement plans in wider programming. These resources are available at the resource centre to assist service providers in their provision of palliative care services.