Chronic Disease Management and Palliative Care Study Tour in Alice Springs and Uluru
About the tour
Experience Australia its most remote, historic and starkly beautiful in this tour to the Red Centre. Encompassing vast Indigenous heartlands, dramatic landscapes and fascinating history from ancient to pioneer to the modern day, this itinerary looks at both traditional and contemporary approaches to palliative and end-of-life care in the company of Shyla Mills, CEO at Palliative Care Queensland.
Starting in Alice Springs travel deep into the Red Centre with an experienced local guide. Go stargazing at pristine night skies at the Earth Sanctuary, explore the historic town of Alice Springs and learn about the inspiring work of the Indigenous-owned and run Purple House, which provides mobile dialysis units in the most remote parts of Australia. Visit the striking new Alice Hospice, designed in collaboration with the Indigenous community, and meet the palliative care team to learn about community care. Meet with Dr Sam Heard, a GP and medical director of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress. Visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service to learn about their work.
As you explore the region, learn about its ancient culture and walk through some breathtaking outback scenery. Visit spectacular Kata Tjuta and see Mt Conner and the Valley of the Winds. See Uluru in the early morning on a walk and at sunset. Stay at the at 5-star Sails in the Desert, have breakfast in the outback and marvel at the Field of Light as the sun goes down behind Uluru.
This tour is eligible for CPD. Partners are very welcome.
Download our brochure Chronic Disease Management and Palliative Care Study Tour in Alice Springs and Uluru Book now
Your tour leader
Shyla Mills
Shyla Mills is the CEO at Palliative Care Queensland (PCQ) a leading charity and peak body in Australia and a member of the Flinders University research centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying. She holds a Master of Public Health and Palliative Care and has a special interest in palliative care strategy and policy, public health palliative care as well as death and compassion literacy. Shyla has worked in palliative care across different settings including paediatrics, community and aged care throughout Australia, as well as internationally in India, Nepal, Mongolia and the UK. Prior to moving to Queensland, Shyla was a National Program Manager at Palliative Care Australia. Shyla is board member for the international charity Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom for over 10 years and was the former vice president of Palliative Care Nurses Australia.
Inspired by international models of palliative care, Shyla has successfully led the introduction of several new community engagement programs at PCQ including Ambulance Wish Queensland (which when launched in 2019 reached over 155 million people online) and public education programs, Last Aid and PalliLearn. Shyla says her ambulance wish would be to watch one last sunset at the beach, with a glass of red wine surrounded by her two sons, husband, dog and friends.
Need more information?
- Tel: (Toll Free) 1-8777-398-764
- Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm
Itinerary at a glance
- Day 1: Alice Springs (Mon, 28 March) Arrive at the hotel and meet the group. Enjoy a welcome dinner and star gazing at the Earth Sanctuary, which is run by Danny Falzon and his brothers. They are also paramedics and Danny will give a talk on the work they do in in Alice Springs. Following the talk and dinner, learn about local ecology, astronomy and culture and enjoy the spectacular night skies with a fully guided astronomy experience with telescope viewing at Earth Sanctuary's space observatory.
- Day 2: Alice Springs (Tues, 29 March) Hear a background talk on Palliative Care in the Northern Territory. Visit the Purple House, an innovative Indigenous-owned and run health service providing mobile dialysis units and remote clinics from its base in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Now operating 18 remote clinics and a mobile dialysis unit called the Purple Truck, Purple House is getting patients back home so that families and culture can remain strong. Learn about their important work, bush medicine and their social enterprise. Meet with staff, volunteers and elders and enjoy a bush lunch with the team. Visit the New Alice Hospice and its new unit acclaimed for its culturally appropriate design. Meet with the palliative care team and learn of their work in Alice Springs and their community palliative care work which covers a huge area across the southern half of the Northern Territory. Meet with GP Dr Sam Heard OAM, medical director of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, and learn about GP involvement in end-of-life care and their training programmes.
- Day 3: Alice Springs (Wed, 30 March) Talk on Palliative Care for First Nations and how the PEPA program works (Program for Experience in the Palliative Approach.) Visit the Royal Flying Doctors Service and learn about their work and the history and provision of medical and palliative care to outback Australia. Visit Alice Telegraph Station and the School of the Air. Drive to visit Simpsons Gap, where you will take part in a guided walk learning of the geology of the region. Continue to Standley Chasm, where you will take part in a relaxed walk to see this magnificent gorge. Enjoy a spectacular outback sunset from Anzac Hill.
- Day 4: Alice Springs / Uluru (Thurs, 31 March) Drive out to Erldunda, the precise centre of Australia, for an early breakfast (and to feed the emus and kangaroos) and see mighty Mt Conner. Continue to Uluru and have lunch. Visit beautiful Kata Tjuta, also known as the Olgas, a group of large domed rock formations or bornhardts, and see the Walpa Gorge. Come back to check into the Sails in the Desert Hotel and at leisure. Optional Sounds of Silence dinner.
- Day 5: Uluru (Fri, 1 April) Drive into the desert for an early morning sunrise viewing of Uluru and light breakfast. Take a guided walking tour examining Aboriginal rock art, desert flora, wildlife and the history of this sacred site. Return to Uluru for lunch and at leisure. Enjoy a sunset barbeque before visiting the Field of Light. As darkness falls and Uluru is thrown into silhouette, the Field of Light flickers into life. As far as the eye can see a swathe of gently rhythmic light shimmers across the desert as the stems of 50,000 spindles of light sway through a spectrum of ochre, deep violet, blue and gentle white. Return to the hotel.
- Day 6: Uluru / Alice Springs (Sat, 2 April) Drive back to Alice Springs, with stops en route. Arrive Alice Springs later in the afternoon. Check into the hotel and freshen up before a wrap up meeting at the hotel. Farewell dinner at Hanuman in the company of some of the local practitioners and speakers you’ve met during the tour.
- Day 7: Alice Springs (Sun, 3 April) Depart Alice Springs.
Tour cost
The ground cost of the tour is $3,285 per person sharing