TY - JOUR T1 - Keep on going: providing a flexible blended learning end of life education programme JF - BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care JO - BMJ Support Palliat Care SP - 262 LP - 262 DO - 10.1136/bmjspcare-2011-000105.175 VL - 1 IS - 2 AU - Janet Willoughby AU - Lois Watson AU - Samantha Gittins Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://spcare.bmj.com/content/1/2/262.1.abstract N2 - Introduction Nursing home staff want to provide end of life care that will maintain their residents dignity, comfort and best interests in the familiar surroundings of the nursing home. Education and support is a key part of this. The Hospice of St Francis provided a mentor education programme to two care homes to facilitate them in this care. Aim To enable the care staff to provide excellent end of life care for their residents encompassing all six steps described in the NHS National End of Life Care Programme. Methods Home 1 is a nursing home for people with learning difficulties, caring for their complex needs. Home 2 is a nursing home for people with dementia with multiple co-morbidities. A mentor is made available to support the staff through an end of life blended learning 6 module and follow-up workshop experience. An audit of patients notes before and after the programme plus staff confidence questionnaires enables evaluation of the programme. Results Both care homes have seen an increase in their confidence and competence in care. Discussion This project is innovative because of the flexibility of methods in delivering the support and training. Home 1 worked methodically through the blended learning. They were keen and ready to do the work shop and currently are gathering/developing tools to underpin this process. Home 2 were enthusiastic beginners but were unable to work through the programme. Now the staff have made time over 2 days to receive group face to face training before going on to gather the tools/action plan they need to achieve the relevant national quality markers. The mentor made herself available to work alongside the care staff, supporting, enabling and challenging their practice through the relationship of trust and support. Conclusion Blended learning using a mentor approach provides a flexible learner centred education programme. ER -