For Aged Care Providers
End-of-Life Preparedness, Embedded Into Your Client Journey
Support earlier conversations, strengthen family preparedness and demonstrate proactive end-of-life support through a structured program aligned with the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards and the Aged Care Act 2024 — the legislative framework underpinning the new regulatory model.
Many clients and families remain unprepared for the practical, emotional and administrative realities of decline, dying, death and bereavement. Critical Info helps aged care providers engage clients, families, supporters and substitute decision-makers earlier — before a crisis occurs.
Pilot Partners
- Melville Cares
- Western Suburbs Cares
- Sustainable Funerals Group
- Good Death Impact Network
The Challenge
The Gap Between Good Intentions and Demonstrable Preparedness
Most aged care providers already deliver compassionate, person-centred care. The challenge is not whether support exists. The challenge is whether clients, families, supporters and substitute decision-makers are prepared before a crisis occurs.
Providers consistently report that clients often experience significant health decline, hospitalisation or end-of-life without clearly documented wishes, identified decision-makers, organised information or a shared family understanding of what matters most.
When this occurs, staff are required to navigate highly emotional situations while simultaneously supporting care delivery, family communication and service coordination.
This creates:
- Reactive decision-making
- Family conflict
- Increased workforce pressure
- Delayed planning conversations
- Greater emotional burden on staff
- Difficulty demonstrating proactive end-of-life support
The Solution
The Critical Info Embedded End-of-Life Preparedness Program
Critical Info provides a structured preparedness program embedded within existing aged care pathways. The program supports clients, families, supporters and substitute decision-makers to organise important information, identify decision-makers, document wishes and access trusted guidance before a crisis occurs.
Stage 1
1Onboarding and Early Engagement
Introduce preparedness early and help people identify what they know, what they don't know and what still needs to be put in place.
Stage 2
2Decline and Increasing Care Needs
Review wishes, documentation, decision-makers and support networks as circumstances change.
Stage 3
3End-of-Life and Bereavement
Provide practical guidance, family support, navigation resources and bereavement assistance.
How the Platform Works
A 15-Day Guided Preparedness Journey
The Critical Info Platform guides clients through a structured 15-day questionnaire — approximately 10 minutes per day — covering 15 life domains, from health and medications through to end-of-life ceremony wishes and key contacts. Clients can respond by text, audio or video (with automatic transcription).
By Day 15, a downloadable PDF summary is generated — a tangible preparedness record in the client's own words, ready to inform intake, care planning and family conversations.
On Day 15, clients set precise access permissions for up to two nominated key contacts — choosing what each contact can see, and when (immediately, on hospitalisation, after an accident, or after death).
The 15 Life Domains
- Day 1About Me
- Day 2Health
- Day 3Heritage, Gender, Sexuality & Spirituality
- Day 4Important Documents
- Day 5My Pets
- Day 6Social
- Day 7Employment
- Day 8My Business
- Day 9Education
- Day 10Finances
- Day 11Assets
- Day 12Professional Services & Suppliers
- Day 13My Digital Life
- Day 14End-of-Life Ceremony & Secrets
- Day 15Key Contacts
Supporting Outcome 5.7
Supporting Palliative and End-of-Life Care Requirements
Critical Info helps providers operationalise and demonstrate proactive end-of-life support by creating structured opportunities to:
- Support individuals to prepare for end-of-life
- Continue planning conversations over time
- Review wishes and preferences as circumstances change
- Support spiritual, cultural and psychosocial needs
- Engage families and substitute decision-makers
- Provide practical bereavement support
A note on 5.7.4 (last days of life)
Critical Info directly supports 5.7.1–5.7.3 through structured preparedness, planning and bereavement pathways. For clinical management requirements under 5.7.4 (last days of life), Critical Info complements your existing clinical governance and palliative care protocols.
Critical Info also supports alignment with the National Guidelines for Spiritual Care in Aged Care (Meaningful Ageing Australia), capturing spiritual identity, cultural practices, life story and ceremony wishes as part of every client's preparedness profile.
Broader Standards Alignment
Supporting Outcomes Across the Strengthened Standards
The program's impact extends beyond Outcome 5.7, supporting evidence and practice across multiple outcomes of the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards.
- 3.1
Assessment and planning
Clients arrive with wishes, contacts, document locations and cultural preferences already documented — reducing intake burden and enriching care planning from day one.
- 5.6
Cognitive impairment
Helps individuals and families capture wishes, preferences and decision-makers while capacity is strong — before cognitive decline progresses.
- 5.7
Palliative and end-of-life care
Supports preparation, ongoing planning and bereavement across the full end-of-life journey.
- 7.2
Transitions
Reduces information loss at transitions of care; families and receiving services have access to current, organised information.
What Providers Receive
Outcomes that strengthen your client journey.
Client Preparedness
Help clients organise information, identify decision-makers and document wishes before a crisis occurs.
Family Preparedness
Support families to understand preferences, reduce uncertainty and make informed decisions.
Workforce Confidence
Provide practical tools and resources that help staff navigate difficult conversations.
Quality Standards Alignment
Strengthen evidence of preparedness, engagement and person-centred decision-making.
Reduced Crisis Management
Support earlier conversations and reduce reactive decision-making.
Continuous Improvement
Generate meaningful reporting and insights for accreditation and quality improvement.
Optional Program Enhancements
Extend the program to suit your organisation.
Workforce Preparedness & Capability
Grief literacy, end-of-life communication skills, psychosocial hazard awareness and volunteer capability development.
Community Education & Engagement
Community talks, client and family workshops, and Bring-a-Loved-One sessions.
Campaign & Audience Growth Support
Localised awareness campaigns and family engagement activities.
Enterprise Integration & Customisation
Multi-site implementation, custom reporting, co-branded resources and workflow integration.
Proven Impact
When Aged Care Organisations Provide Structured Opportunities For Preparedness Conversations, People Engage
Pilot outcomes from end-of-life doulas and community participants, supported by the Good Death Impact Network and Sustainable Funerals Group.
90%
Took practical planning actions
80%
Updated legal or personal documents
78%
Reported planning felt easier
70%
Initiated conversations with family or decision-makers
From the national end-of-life doulas pilot, conducted in partnership with the Good Death Impact Network and Sustainable Funerals Group.
WA community aged care pilot — Melville Cares & Western Suburbs Cares
Engagement across clients, families and care teams.
- 100+ participants attended community education activities
- Earlier preparedness conversations initiated
- Increased referrals into end-of-life pathways
- Strong engagement from clients, carers and families
Catherine Ashton presenting Critical Info to community participants.
WA Pilot Partner
“We’re proud to be the first aged care provider in Australia to adopt the Critical Info Platform, helping clients and their families live more aligned with their values and preferences.”
“We know that a major barrier has been early planning of what we want at end of life, but our partnership with Critical Info has provided us with a vehicle that is practical and guides the process in a simple and effective way.”
Maria Davison
CEO, Melville Cares & Western Suburbs Cares
Supporting Workforce Wellbeing
Supporting Staff Through Difficult Conversations
End-of-life discussions can be emotionally demanding for workers, volunteers and care teams.
Critical Info provides practical tools, educational resources and referral pathways that help staff navigate these conversations with greater confidence and consistency.
- Reduced emotional burden
- Greater confidence
- Better prepared families
- Improved consistency
- Reduced duplication of effort
- Supports psychosocial wellbeing obligations
The Critical Info Ecosystem
A preparedness ecosystem, not just a platform.
The platform is one component of a broader preparedness ecosystem supporting clients, families, supporters and care teams across the entire journey.
Embedded program
End-of-Life Preparedness Ecosystem
Critical Info Platform
My loved one has died, what do I do now? — National After-Death Guide
Resource Hub
Critical Chat Tuesdays
Critical Planning Hour
Don't Be Caught Dead Podcast
Education & Training
Reporting & Insights
Privacy & Security
Your Organisation Holds Zero Resident Data
Critical Info is designed so that providers carry no additional data risk. Sensitive documents stay with the client and their chosen decision-makers.
- No wills uploaded
- No powers of attorney uploaded
- No identity documents uploaded
- No document repository to breach
- No chain-of-custody obligations
- Australian-hosted
- ISO 27001 certified
- ISO 9001 certified
Next step
Ready To Embed End-of-Life Preparedness Into Your Client Journey?
Discover how Critical Info can help your organisation improve client preparedness, support workforce wellbeing and demonstrate proactive end-of-life support.
