An internationally recognised research leader in palliative care and bereavement support has been named WA’s 2023 Australian of the Year.
The winner, Professor Samar Aoun, the Head of Palliative Care Research at Perron Institute, Institute Research Chair in Palliative Care at UWA and Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University is a highly respected advocate for a greater community involvement in a public health approach to palliative care and grief support.
She and the other WA winners were announced by Perron Institute patron and Governor of WA, the Hon. Chris Dawson APM, at Government House on 14 November 2022.
“The other nominees are such worthy recipients. It is wonderful to be nominated, but I am truly honoured to receive the award; my main aim is for a bigger platform for causes that I care about – palliative care, compassionate communities, and motor neurone disease,” Professor Aoun said in her acceptance speech.
“Caring, dying, and grieving is everyone’s business and everyone’s responsibility. I hope this award encourages more people to have courageous conversations about dying, death and grief – it happens to everyone, so it is important that we support each other along the journey.”
Professor Aoun’s research promotes a person‐centred approach, empowering the community to work with health service providers to ensure quality care is accessible throughout the end‐of‐life journey, with a particular focus on improving palliative care for under‐served groups such as people with motor neurone disease (MND) and dementia, terminally ill people who live alone, and family carers.
In 2018, she co-founded the Southwest WA branch of the Compassionate Communities Network (CCN), a global movement which empowers members of the community to help provide a holistic level of support to people from the moment of a terminal diagnosis.
In a recent interview with Medical Forum magazine, the CEO of Palliative Care WA, Ms Lana Glogowski, said that Professor Aoun’s Compassionate Connectors Program, facilitated by the Southwest CCN, was a fascinating example of using volunteers – training individuals to work with people and families to facilitate a connection to both informal and formal supports.
“They guide the families in finding those people in their community who may be willing to make a little contribution, be that walking the dog, mowing the lawn, taking them to their appointments or doing a pharmacy run,” Ms Glogowski said.
“And that is hugely therapeutic, we shouldn’t underestimate the power of a community working with someone who was unwell so that they feel loved, valued, and supported.”
The initiative has improved social connectedness, reduced social isolation, increased supportive networks for people with life-limiting illnesses, and built the capacity of the community and the palliative care team to work together to deliver quality care.
A dedicated volunteer, Professor Aoun is also a Director of the MND Australia Board, President of the MND Association of WA, a chief investigator in the MND Registry (MiNDAUS) and a board member of Palliative Care WA.
Professor Aoun established and chaired the West Australian Country Health Services Research Ethics Committee for 23 years. She has served on two principal National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) committees (2012-15), the Australian Health Ethics Committee and the Prevention and Community Health Committee, as well as chairing the NHMRC’s grant review panels for several years.
Internationally, she is a member of the Public Health Palliative Care reference group of the European Association of Palliative Care and has collaborated extensively, such as contributing to the 2022 Oxford Textbook of Public Health Palliative Care.
Among numerous awards, Professor Aoun received the Medal for Excellence from the European Society for Person Centred Healthcare in 2018 and the Centenary Medal in 2003, and she now joins other State and Territory winners as a finalist in the national Australian of the Year Awards to be announced in January 2023.