In the past, hospice education at Keech has been project led. For example, the team might be commissioned to provide several workshops on a particular topic. This meant there was no continuity for learners, and the education team were not embedded in local networks.
The team decided to invest in educators over projects, employing two full-time lecturer practitioners. As part of their role, they have developed links and training across their local area.
This has been the result of a very proactive collaboration over time with the CCGs and then ICB, to both maintain an ‘influential seat at the table,’ and persuasion to try something new, investing in educators as opposed to projects.
The Education team at Keech still offers project led training, but it also works collaboratively with a wide range of local organisations to provide multidisciplinary training about palliative and end of life care (PEoLC). This includes:
the University of Bedfordshire and University of Hertfordshire
local Further Education colleges
Acute Trusts
care home staff
multidisciplinary teams.
They now have a yearly programme of education and training, ranging from basic to specialist level. They can also devise bespoke programmes. As well as improving people’s skills, this work helps raise awareness of the hospice’s services.
Collaboration
Working with the University of Bedfordshire, the hospice set up a Collaboration Café. This gave them the opportunity to consider how they could work together across four areas:
academic
research
compassionate communities
volunteering and fundraising.
This led to the development of task and finish groups and project briefs for each area.
Hospices have a broad range of activities, and the Education team are keen to look holistically at what Keech can offer to educators. For example, the hospice is to support research into how people think about and approach charity shops.
The team have also been able to support the university as Academic Fellows supporting with teaching and curriculum planning. Palliative and end of life care (PEoLC) is optional for most clinical programmes, and the university does not have the expertise to teach this subject. However, the hospice can provide this. For example, the hospice provides training in PEoLC for paramedic students and across a range of other disciplines.
The Education team has used a similar model to reach out to a range of education institutions, including local colleges. For example, they offer work experience placements not only in care but expanding into in the marketing, finance, and fundraising teams for a local Further Education college. They offer to host college students for one-day training, which includes a tour of the hospice, a discussion about what the hospice does, learning about what dying looks like and practising communication skills.
Education on inclusive health is vital to improve access to hospice care. Keech Hospice Care has worked hard to improve and promote the need for inclusive health. The valued education has shown examples of innovation by providing sessions and workshops for our LGBTQIA+, Homeless, Learning Disabilities and Multi-Cultural Communities.
To improve access for our wide range of health care professionals and public, we must continue to listen to the multi variance of our community and the complexities they face.
Facilitators, challenges and advice
Text
Key facilitators
The hospice was originally supported by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) who funded the team on a two-year basis, to prove the worth of the model.
Having a permanent team means that the team can plan, identifying and filling gaps in provision. They can experiment with creative approaches.
Challenges
The hospice team have had to be very proactive to raise awareness of their work and help people understand that they can add value! The team tries to overcome this by working collaboratively to plan programmes.
Palliative and End of Life Care works best when it is multi-disciplinary. However, in practice, it can often become siloed. The team tries to overcome this by modelling multidisciplinary teamwork as they teach.
Tips and advice
Text
Have a conversation. Find out people’s needs and challenges, then offer solutions.
Show your impact. Give examples of work you have done and use evaluation data to demonstrate how this helped improve people’s skills.
Try to facilitate learning than teach. The hospice is better felt than told – bring people into the hospice and let them see for themselves what amazing services it offers.
Training should not be one-off. By planning and delivering education at all levels, the hospice can build a relationship with individuals as they journey through their career.
Future development
Text
Keech hopes to become a University Teaching Hospice. The team is working with the university to develop training opportunities for students from a wider range of disciplines and develop academic and community led research opportunities.
The team is also to launch as new Knowledge Hub in November 2023, to centralise information, research, and resources
