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Abstract
The Devon Care Home Kitemark is in its fifth year and has established a strong provider-led coalition, with over 60 member residential care homes. The homes are committed to sharing learning, promoting collaboration and using evidence to enhance best practice. 2016 has seen the movement identify 6 priority topics, including end-of-life care.
The Kitemark approach so far has been to engage and empower residential care homes. The team have used an ‘appreciative inquiry’ model to create a group of ‘critical friends’ who share knowledge, tools and techniques for improving care for residents.
Using the impetus of “Dying Matters” week in May 2016, the Devon Care Home Kitemark group have now established a plan for a peer-review pilot of End of Life Care in their homes.
The initial pilot visits will be undertaken in Summer 2016, with a view to developing a process to be used across all 60 sites.
Methods included will be:
Site visits undertaken by peers, with the support of the local specialist palliative care team where appropriate.
Completion of peer review feedback sheets to clarify strengths and challenges for each home.
The process will be developed and refined over time, according to feedback from staff, residents and managers.
Methods included will be: Rather than using existing models of teaching and training in care homes (eg. Six Steps, GSF for Care Homes), which have to date been led by “experts”, this work has uniquely been driven by care homes themselves. The aim is that homes will be able to make quality improvements in a meaningful, sustainable way.
By looking carefully at generic challenges for the Kitemark Homes in the local area, a further key aim will be to identify how to improve End of Life care across boundaries for our care home residents.
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