Palliative & End of Life Care Foundation Modul

e3Learning Host



Palliative & End of Life Care Foundation Module

Course duration: 30 minutes

Welcome to the Calvary Palliative & End of Life Care Foundation Module titled: Working with people experiencing loss and grief.

Whatever your role within Calvary you are expected to perform your duties with compassion, care and concern for people who are experiencing loss or grief.

This module has been designed to provide you with an understanding of how best to work and communicate with people who are experiencing loss and grief.



0%
Start


We advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants that some photographs in this course may contain images of deceased persons which may cause sadness or distress.

• Introduction
• Loss, Grief and Bereavement
• Communication Skills
• Communicating with people who are experiencing loss and grief
• Case Study
• Summary

===

Being for others

Calvary's Mission is 'to bring the healing ministry of Jesus to those who are sick, dying and in need through being for others'.

'Being for others' at the end of life is strongly aligned with the spirit and work of Venerable Mary Potter and the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary. In our work today, we are called to excel and be recognised as a continuing source of healing, hope and nurturing to the people and communities we serve.

Calvary's Values

Calvary's values of hospitality, healing, stewardship and respect are visible in how we treat each other. They are lived in our daily activities and relationships with our colleagues, patients, residents and clients, and their families.

Calvary promotes a culture that embraces, expects and rewards the delivery of person and family centred care.

Module objectives

The objectives of this module are to ensure that every person working at Calvary - including staff, students and volunteers are able to:

understand palliative care and end of life care concepts

define what loss is and recognise possible responses to loss and grief

understand bereavement and how it may impact people

explore different types of communication skills

demonstrate Calvary's values by communicating empathetically with people who are experiencing loss and grief, and

respond within the boundaries of their professional role.

What is Palliative and End of Life Care?

At Calvary, we put the person and their family at the centre of care in all settings while continuing to focus on palliative and end of life care.

'End of life' refers to that period of time when a person is living with an advancing, progressive, life limiting illness and likely to be in the last 6-12 months of their life.

'End of life care' is care provided to people in this 6-12 month period as they approach and reach the end of their life. This care is provided by all health and community care professionals, regardless of where they work in health, community or aged care sectors.

'Palliative care' refers to designated specialist services provided by an interdisciplinary team of specialist palliative care professionals whose substantial work is with patients who are approaching the end of their life and dying.

Palliative and End of Life Care at Calvary

No matter where you work or what role you have at Calvary, you may come into contact with people who have serious advancing illness and are approaching or reaching the end of their life.

This may include older people with one or more advanced chronic illness such as heart disease, cancer or dementia, who are relying more on health care providers and other services to support them and meet their needs.

For some people, caring for people as they approach and reach the end of their life will be a major part of their work.

Loss, Grief and Bereavement

In this part of the module we will explore what loss, grief and bereavement are, and some of the different ways that people may react.

Your role at Calvary

In this activity, you will need to identify situations where you might come into contact with people experiencing loss or grief while working in your role at Calvary.

What is loss?

Losses occur for everyone.

They occur throughout life, not just at the end of our life. They can include things like:

divorce

the loss of a job

the loss of independence

the loss of a pet, or

the death of a family member or friend.

Any loss can cause grief. Loss and grief are very personal experiences. The greater the loss, the more intense the grief can be.

What is grief?

Grief is a natural response to loss. Grief includes a range of responses - physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.

Everybody grieves differently - grief is a personal and highly individual experience. How we react to grief depends on a number of factors, including:

the nature of the loss

our personality

how we cope with things

our life experience

the support we receive from others

the number of other significant events that occur at about the same time as the loss

our faith, and

our culture.

What is Bereavement

Bereavement is the loss experienced when a loved one dies.

Loss and grief may be experienced in the period leading up to the death, as well as during the bereavement phase.

Bereavement is often a process that includes several stages of grief.

Everyone experiences loss, grief and bereavement in their own unique way.

You can find out more about loss, grief and bereavement in palliative care here.

https://www.palliativecarebridge.com.au/resources/loss-grief-and-bereavement

How do people react to loss and grief?

Grief includes a wide range of emotions, thoughts and behaviours. There is no 'right way' to grieve. Everyone moves through grief in their own unique way.

Responses associated with grief and bereavement

Some normal emotions and responses associated with grief include:

shock and disbelief

sadness

guilt

anger, for example, shouting or swearing

fear

a physical reaction, such as heart rate quickening or vomiting, or

a combination of all of these.

When talking to someone in your care, a family member or colleague, you may not know they are experiencing loss or grief.

It is important to be aware that any of the emotions or responses above may indicate that a person is going through grief of some kind, including following the loss of a loved one.

Myth or Fact

Now it is your turn. In this activity, you will need to look at a series of statements and identify whether they are:

A Myth, which is a commonly held view or belief or

A Fact, which is an accurate and generally true statement.

Continue

Talking about loss and grief

Many people don't know what to say to a person who is experiencing loss, grief or bereavement, so they might say very little. This can make communicating and caring very awkward

Communication skills

In this part of the module we will be looking at some of the skills that you can use to communicate clearly with others.

How do people communicate?

There are many different ways that people communicate. We can use:

words

tone of voice

facial expressions

eye contact: looking at the person or away, and

other body language, such as folding arms or turning body away.

Each of these can be used to communicate different messages, in different ways and situations to different people.

Good communication skills

It is important that everyone working at Calvary is able to communicate clearly with patients, residents, clients and their families, as well as visitors and other staff members.

Good communication skills include:

asking appropriate questions

listening to what people say

maintaining eye contact

being aware of body language - without saying a word, and sometimes without realising it, body language can reveal what you and others are thinking and feeling

attentive silence - looking interested

checking that the person has understood what you have said, and

being understood, repeating back what you have heard in your own words.

Asking questions

Asking questions is a way of getting information, but also a way of encouraging people to talk. It is an important communication skill.

There are different ways you can ask questions depending on the situation, type and amount of information you need, and how much time you have.

Two types of questions

Closed questions are ones that people can only answer with 'yes' or 'no'. If you just want a yes or no decision from someone or time is short, ask a closed question.

Examples of closed questions are:

"Are you feeling ok?"

"Would you like me to ask a nurse to come and speak with you?"

Open questions invite people to give more information.

To encourage someone to talk to you, or to get more information about something, ask an open question. Open questions begin with words such as:

'How ...?'

'When ...?'

'Where ...?'

'What ...?'

'Why ...?', or

'Who ...?'

Examples of open questions are:

====

Communicating with people who are experiencing loss and grief

In this part of the module we will be looking at how to communicate with people who are experiencing loss and grief.

Common ways of reacting to loss or grief

The experience of loss and grief affects how we communicate with others.

As grief includes a wide range of emotions, thoughts and behaviours. There is no 'right way' to grieve. Everyone moves through grief in their own unique way.Some normal emotions and behaviours associated with grief include:

shock and disbelief

sadness

guilt

anger, for example, shouting or swearing

fear

a physical reaction, such as heart rate quickening or vomiting, or

a combination of all of these.

Communicating with people approaching and reaching the end of life

Everyone can experience loss, grief or bereavement. At Calvary this may include patients, residents, clients, visitors and staff members.

No matter what your role is at Calvary, you may need to communicate with people approaching and reaching the end of life.

The ways different people communicate will vary, but it is important that all Calvary staff, volunteers and students share some foundation communication skills to enable them to communicate with people experiencing loss and grief

What should I say to someone experiencing loss or grief?

There are a number of things you can say to someone who is experiencing loss and grief following the death of someone close to them.

First, acknowledge the situation, for example:

"I heard your ......died."

You can then express your concern, for example:

"I am sorry to hear that this has happened to you."

It's important to be genuine, even if you are not sure what to say, for example:

"I am not sure what to say but I want you to know I care."

You can also create a 'safe' space for the person to grieve, as well as offering support, for example:

"Tell me, is there anything I can do for you?"

Finally, you can ask how he or she is feeling.

==

Barriers to communication

Barriers to our ability to communicate with people who are approaching the end of their life, their families, carers or others can include:

fear of our own death

lack of experience with death and dying

not being comfortable talking about death

fear that you might not know the answers to questions, and

experiencing your own loss and grief.

==

Culture and end of life

Not all people from similar cultural backgrounds will share the same beliefs, values and attitudes.

It is important not to automatically assume you know or can anticipate the person's needs or expectations based on their cultural background.

Asking what is most important to the patient, resident, client or family member at that time can be a good way to identify the person's immediate needs within their particular cultural context.

Always remember to:

speak clearly and concisely

listen carefully to what the person is telling you

check for understanding, and

be aware of non-verbal communication.

===

Maintaining dignity

Maintaining the dignity of clients, residents and patients, their family and their friends is very important. You can do this by:

respecting the person as an individual and helping them maintain their identity

speaking clearly and using non-verbal communication skills such as making appropriate eye contact

making an effort to find out what is important to them

understanding and maintaining their privacy, boundaries or safe space

providing social, cultural and spiritual support, and

understanding and responding to their feeling of being a burden.

===

Communicating Calvary’s values

Every Calvary employee, regardless of their role, can demonstrate the values of hospitality, healing, stewardship and respect through the way they communicate with others.

===

What could I do to help someone experiencing loss, grief or bereavement?

Sometimes it is not necessary to say too much - just listening and being there is important too.

It is always important to act in a way that is appropriate to your role within Calvary and that you are comfortable with. This might include:

responding with empathy: recognising the emotions that the person is experiencing, listening, and assisting the person as much as you can, or

speaking to your supervisor, manager or a member of the clinical team about the situation and any concerns you have.

===

What we've learned

You should now be able to:

understand the concepts of palliative care and end of life care

define what loss is and recognise possible responses to loss and grief

understand bereavement and how it can impact people differently

demonstrate Calvary's values by responding appropriately to the needs of people who are experiencing loss or grief with whom you come in contact in your day to day role

use appropriate strategies to communicate clearly in all interactions with patients, residents, clients, families, visitors or colleagues

demonstrate Calvary's values by communicating empathetically with people who are experiencing grief, loss and bereavement, and

communicate appropriately in your day to day interactions and within the boundaries of your role or position, with people who are experiencing loss, grief or bereavement.

To finish off, you need to complete a short multiple-choice assessment. You'll need an 80% pass to complete the module.

Click 'Next' when you're ready to begin.

===

===

===

===

"How are you feeling?"

"What is most important to you right now?"

an intPalliative and End of Life Care at Calvary

No matter where you work or what role you have at Calvary, you may come into contact with people who have serious advancing illness and are approaching or reaching the end of their life.

This may include older people with one or more advanced chronic illness such as heart disease, cancer or dementia, who are relying more on health care providers and other services to support them and meet their needs.

For some people, caring for people as they approach and reach the end of their life will be a major part of their work.erdisciplinary team of specialist palliative care professionals whose substantial work is with patients who are approaching the end of their life and dying.