The Be the Ripple: Healthy End of Life Program in Neighbourhood Houses (BTR:HELP) began as a collaboration between Community Houses Association of the Outer Eastern Suburbs (CHAOS) and the La Trobe University Public Health Palliative Care Unit (the Unit). CHAOS is the lead organisation implementing BTR:HELP in Neighbourhood Houses (‘The Project’) and took the lead in all aspects of delivery and practice. The program design was informed by the Healthy End of Life Program (HELP), a research-based, evidence-informed public health palliative care intervention and evaluation framework developed by the Unit. CHAOS and the Unit combined their respective expertise and resources to demonstrate the innovative contribution the Neighbourhood House sector can make to end-of-life care.
Be the Ripple: HELP shows how and what a non-health sector organisation, Neighbourhood Houses, can contribute to supporting communities encountering dying, death, loss, and bereavement, and how this in turn has the potential to support community care and palliative care services.
The overall aim of the project was to support members of the community with a life-limiting illness, and their carers, to remain connected with, and supported by, their local neighbourhoods and community social networks.