Broken Hill. Photo credit: Robyn Attwood.
A series of Palliative Care Masterclasses designed to build palliative care workforce capacity in regional areas are being delivered across NSW by the UTS IMPACCT team, led by Professor Jane Phillips, Director of the IMPACCT research centre. The Masterclasses have been developed in consultation with industry leaders from Local Health Districts (LHDs) with educational content targeted specifically to meet local need.
Recently, the UTS IMPACCT team travelled to Broken Hill to deliver two, one day participatory Masterclasses to 35 participants on 17 and 18 May. On day one, the Bereavement Masterclass explored how patients and their carers cope with impending death, how they bring meaning to the experience, and how health professionals who journey with them can provide effective support and build resilience. The class was facilitated by Professor Liz Lobb and Ms Robyn Attwood.
Professor Liz Lobb facilitating the Bereavement Masterclass.
On day two, Professors Jane Phillips and David Currow joined the team to facilitate the Complex Communication in Palliative Care Masterclass. This session aimed to provide local health care professionals with practical skills and tools to improve their communication capabilities and to feel more confident about managing challenging communication scenarios.
These participatory Masterclasses used several different teaching mediums to cater to various adult learning styles, with the initial feedback from participants suggesting that this format met their unique learning needs:
“I’m surprised how much new information I have learnt. I loved the NURSE mnemonic – naming and acknowledging emotion - and I just practised it successfully in a family meeting at lunch time. I think we can get to the crux of the patient’s concerns if we acknowledge the emotion first.” - palliative care physician.
“I now realise that I often try to think of things to say, and to solve the problem before I even know what the problem is from the other person’s perspective. I’m much more aware of active listening now.” - community palliative care nurse.
“I’ve learnt to consider other emotions associated with grief, like anger – I’d never even thought about anticipatory grief before today.” - hospital registered nurse.
Melissa Cumming, Director of FWLHD Cancer & Palliative Care Services noted, “It was a great opportunity for our specialist palliative care and generalist staff to be led by experienced, skilled presenters and clinicians in this experiential and interactive forum dealing with such important topics. The feedback has been very positive and I’m hopeful the translation to practice will follow.”
The IMPACCT team have also facilitated a Complex Symptom Management Masterclass in Wollongong for 46 people and have confirmed dates for the other regional LHDs over the coming months.
Following the Masterclass, some participants registered their interest for the new Masters in Palliative Care degree, commencing at UTS in 2019.
If you would like to know more about the Palliative Care Masterclasses, please contact Robyn.Attwood@uts.edu.au.
If you would like to know more about the Masters in Palliative Care, please contact Louise.Hickman@uts.edu.au.