Palliative & Aged Care

Our research aims to support and enhance the physical, psychological and spiritual well-being of older individuals as they approach the end of their lives.

Our research areas

Palliative care

Our research program in palliative care seeks to develop interventions that enable individuals with terminal illnesses to continue to flourish. We do this by developing and testing programs that integrate best clinical practice with optimal psychological, social and spiritual care.

Delirium

Our research includes the development of better ways to prevent and respond to delirium in hospitals, with a focus on older adults and people receiving palliative care, through clinical trials, implementation studies and mixed methods research.

Ageing and aged care

We collaborate with consumers and health service providers to design and implement research programmes that aim to prevent depression, the risk of cognitive decline, falls and delirium, and to decrease frailty. Our work seeks to support the optimal physical, psychological and spiritual function of older individuals living in the community and aged care facilities.

Clinical pharmacology

Our team conducts collaborative research to examine the effects of prescription medicines on the health outcomes of older individuals. We focus on strategies that minimise the use of potentially inappropriate medicines by utilising well-validated de-prescribing algorithms.

Meet our people

Natasha Michael
Associate Professor, Institute for Health Research

Annmarie Hosie
Professor, School of Nursing & Midwifery

Megan Best
Professor, Institute for Ethics and Society

Caroline Bulsara
Professor, Institute for Health Research

Osvaldo Almeida
Professor & Director, Institute for Health Research

Davinia Seah
Adjunct Associate Professor, Institute for Health Research

David Kissane
Emeritus Professor of Palliative Medicine

Xavier Symons
DIrector, Plunkett Centre for Ethics

Dana Hince
Research Biostatisctician, Institute for Health Research

Meet our partners

St Vincent's
Plunkett Centre for Ethics
Calvary

Externally funded projects

Delirium care

This project aims to drive quality in delirium care through a patient-centred monitoring system in palliative care. Learn more.

Principal investigator: Annmarie Hosie
Funded by: National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Funding: $503,477

Recent selected publications

  • Hosie, A., Agar, M., Ries, N., Hepworth, A., Sanders, R., Kramer, K., Evered, L., Ma, D., van Oosterom, N​., Devlin, J. (2026) Understanding the Unique Ethical Challenges in Randomized Controlled Trials of Delirium Interventions for Older Adults: A Rapid Review. Anesthesia & Analgesia. Read article
  • Best, M. C. (Ed.). (2024). Spiritual Care in Palliative Care: What it is and why it Matters. Springer Nature. Read book.
  • Devlin, J. W., Sieber, F., Akeju, O., Khan, B. A., MacLullich, A. M., Marcantonio, E. R., ... & Inouye, S. K. (2025). Advancing Delirium Treatment Trials in Older Adults: Recommendations for Future Trials From the Network for Investigation of Delirium: Unifying Scientists (NIDUS). Critical care medicine, 53(1), e15-e28. Read article.
  • Michael, N., Moore, G., Appleton, J., & Kissane, D. (2025). Implementation of the psycho-existential symptom assessment scale in palliative care: Qualitative analysis of stakeholders perspectives. Patient Education and Counseling, 130, 108419. Read article.
  • Lee, J. T., Lovell, M. R., Ritchie, M., Butcher, B. E., Sheehan, C., Fazekas, B., ... & Agar, M. (2025). Lidocaine for Neuropathic Cancer Pain (LiCPain): a pilot randomised controlled trial. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Read article.
  • Butler, C., Michael, N., & Kissane, D. (2025). Reclaiming ritual in palliative care: A hermeneutic narrative review. Palliative & Supportive Care, 23, e49. Read article.
  • Saunders, R., Crookes, K., Leach, T., Ang, S. G. M., Bulsara, C., Ewens, B., ... & Gallagher, O. (2025). Observing nursing assistant companions supporting older adults in hospital: A cross-sectional study. Collegian. Read article.
  • Shah, R., Everitt, R., Hince, D., Kissane, D., & Michael, N. (2025). Ambulatory palliative care and cancer symptom control: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 15(4), 411-422. Read article.
  • Almeida, O. P. (2025). Risk of depression and dementia among individuals treated with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 10-1097. Read article.
  • van Oosterom, N., Agar, M. R., Walpole, G., Casey, P., Moffat, P., Bradley, K., ... & Hosie, A. (2024). Driving quality in delirium care through a patient-centered monitoring system in palliative care: Protocol for the two-staged exploratory sequential mixed methods MODEL-PC study. Delirium Communications. Read article.

Contact us

If you would like to know more about what we do at the Notre Dame Institute for Health Research, we encourage you to email us ihr@nd.edu.au.