New Types of Worker - Holistic working in Extra Care Housing
Holistic working in Extra Care Housing
Extra care housing and end of life care: Supportive skills development for staff.
Holistic working in Extra Care Housing
Context/Background
Housing 21 in partnership with the National End of Life Care Programme conducted a service improvement project in 2008 to promote dignity and choice at the end of life for older people who live in extra care housing.
The evaluation of this earlier project pointed to the need for more skills development and learning resources for care and support staff working in extra care.
It also highlighted the need to raise awareness of extra care and the expertise of extra care staff teams amongst other health and social care professionals, in order to promote better joint working in future.
The Aims and Objectives of the Project
To develop, pilot, roll out and evaluate an end of life care learning resource pack which would be useful for care and support staff working with older people in extra care housing settings.
To produce a DVD/video capturing good practice, for the use of staff, service users and external stakeholders.
The Plan- To produce the learning resource pack, in conjunction with the National End of Life Care Programme.
- To use Housing 21 staff, front line staff, service users and senior operations managers for advice and / or evaluation.
- To develop and evaluate competences for staff.
- To commission an independent film company to make the DVD.
- To set up a system to collate feedback from staff which will be helpful when we come to update the resource pack in June 2010.
- To roll out and promote the learning resource pack across Housing 21's specialist housing settings and to other housing and care providers.
- To use a range of media including the video resource and websites to disseminate the pack to a wider audience.
What Happened
Holistic working in Extra Care Housing
Using the plan above, the resource pack has been finalised and designed.
It was launched on the 9th July 2009 at a national conference on extra care housing and end of life care, where a clip was also shown from the DVD.
Following this, an internal Housing 21 meeting was held to ensure that the resource pack and associated materials are rolled out effectively across the organisation. Senior regional operations managers have a key role in this.
What was Achieved
Early feedback on the pack has been really encouraging. The extra care tenants that looked at it felt that some of the materials would be useful resources for them, not just for staff. Our colleagues at the National End of Life Care Programme are very enthusiastic about the resource pack and feel it can be tailored to other sectors and settings; care homes and home care.
The response from the July launch event was very positive:
The Department of Health Housing Learning and Information Network (Housing LIN) report that they have had some of the best feedback they have ever got from an event they've been involved with.
Over 120 delegates attended, most took a copy of the resource pack for their own organisations.
What Helped and What Hindered
The work would not have got as far as it has without the expertise and backing of the National End of Life Care Programme.
Similarly the support of senior operational managers and our Chief Executive has been instrumental in taking this work forward.
In terms of filming, we were inundated with requests to appear in the DVD and had to turn some people away disappointed.
What We Found Out
Many older people think about end of life care and some want to talk about it. So do staff. It has become much easier for staff and tenants to talk about death and dying without stigma. Staff are becoming much more confident in 'having difficult conversations' with residents and in providing support to people who are dying.
When the resource pack has been rolled out and evaluated we will be able to see what a difference it has made over time.
Evaluation
This will be carried out fully to accompany the roll out of the resource pack.
We are inviting constructive feedback so we can improve future editions as we recognise what we have is a starting point and there is still much to do.
What New or Changed Skills do People Need to Work in This Way?
Managers need to give staff time to increase their confidence on end of life issues, and reinforce the value of the resource pack and encourage them to refer to it often.
Above all, staff need to ensure that care is sensitive and person-centred. Staff need to be able to take what they know and apply it to each person differently.
The Future
When the resource pack has been rolled out and evaluated we will be able to see what a difference it has made over time.
Where partnerships between organisations are forged out of mutual values, shared goals and trust, there is a lot we can achieve.
Contact details
Sarah Vallelly, Research Manager,Housing 21
sarah.vallelly@housing21.co.uk
Tel: 0370 192 4511
www.housing21.co.uk
Date 20.7.09
