Facilitating Conversations about End of Life

Sue Willis Sheffield Hallam University

Aim

• To give an example of one educational tool to promote conversation about end of life

• To discuss our experience of delivering a SHOOC (Sheffield Hallam Open Online Course) in Partnership with St Luke’s Hospice, highlighting the successes and challenges

Why develop an open online course?

• Changing attitudes to death and dying, current policy drivers

• Provide a platform to facilitate conversation

• Access to a wider audience• To build and harness learning

gained from the first open online course EPCC – 12 months earlier

• Develop partnership working with St Luke’s Hospice

Engaging in Conversations about End of Life is difficult

• Personal feelings (fear?)• Experiences, beliefs and values• Ability to portray empathy – ‘walking with the

patient’• All impact on our ability to talk about it

personally and professionally.

Aims of the SHOOC

• To provide an educational opportunity to engage in conversations about death and dying and preparing for end of life.

• To facilitate learning about the perspectives and experiences of patients, family members, carers and health care professionals engaging in difficult or challenging conversations.

When

• November 2015 - SHU• 1372 participants enrolled on the CELC

SHOOC. • A pre-course survey, completed by 816

participants (representing a 59% response rate), explored motivations for participation and sought to identify the goals of participants.

Table to show motivation for doing the course

Key themes

• Talking about death and dying

• Spiritual and cultural issues

• Preparing for end of life• Bereavement• ‘Looking after yourself’

Supporting the conversations

• Webinars – experts in SPC• Videos of real experiences of patients and

carers• Conversation Space• Digital Workbooks for personal reflection• E-tivities

Outcomes

• An emotional and rewarding experience with many participants to reflecting on personal experiences of, and engaging in conversations about death and dying and preparing for end of life.

• Contributions to the discussions were extremely moving, enlightening and ‘supportive’ - highlighting the willingness of participants to share their learning and experiences.

Reward and Recognition

• Digital workbooks• 5 open badges awarded• 486 claims 421 approved• 24 expressed interest in RPL credit• 4 successfully submitted and achieved 15C at

level 7 mapped against the CWISPC module

Feedback

• ‘You would not believe how quickly the course material has impacted my day to day practice, with an increase in my palliative advanced prostate cancer patients in the last two months. Thank you for the opportunity to attend this online education’

Challenges

• Marketing – target audience• Technology – support• Timing of the webinars• Time commitment for staff and participants

Summary

• Engaging in conversations about death and dying or end of life is difficult

• The SHOOC provided an opportunity to express views, values, opinions and beliefs and learn from others

• It is not about having the answers• Importance of good communications skills and• Looking after yourself!

References

Department of Health (2008). End of Life Care Strategy. Last accessed 12th April 2016 at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/136431/End_of_life_strategy.pdf

Hollands, F.M. & Tirthali, D. (2014). MOOCs: Expectations and Reality. Full Report. [Online]. Lastaccessed 12th April 2016 at: http://cbcse.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/MOOCs_Expectations_and_Reality.pdf

Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People (2014) One chance to get it right. LeadershipAlliance for the Care of Dying people. [Online]Last accessed 12th April 2016 at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/323188/One_chance_to_get_it_right.pdf

Parkin, H. (2015). Enhancing Prostate Cancer Care MOOC – Evaluation Report. [Online]. Lastaccessed 12th April 2016 at:https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/telteam/files/2015/06/PUBLIC-Evaluation-Report-Enhancing-ProstateCancer-Care-MOOC.pdf

Parr, C. (2015). MOOCs: fluctuating rates in online investment. THES article. [Online]. Last accessed12th April 2016 at:https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/moocs-fluctuating-rates-in-onlineinvestment/2019816.article