Developing, implementing and evaluating an end of life care intervention.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Palliative Care
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Care homes are increasingly providing end-of-life care.
• Staff in care homes require enhanced skills and confidence for effective end-of-life care.
• Facilitating end-of-life care within the usual place of residence is a key goal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop, implement, and evaluate a collaborative intervention for care home staff.
• To increase staff confidence and competence in end-of-life care.
• To enable more residents to receive end-of-life care in their usual place of residence.

Main Methods:

• A two-phase exploratory mixed-methods design was employed.
• An end-of-life care toolkit and training were delivered by a specialist palliative care team.
• Data collected via discussion groups, training attendance, and pre/post-intervention questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Staff confidence increased in receiving emotional/clinical support and managing symptoms.
• Confidence decreased in discussing death and dying with residents and relatives.
• Audit data showed a greater reduction in hospital deaths for residents in participating homes.

Conclusions:

• Collaborative interventions enhance care home staff's ability to manage end-of-life care.
• Such interventions may empower residents to choose their place of death.
• Further research could explore strategies to improve confidence in communication regarding death and dying.