'Grab and Go' Guide for palliative and end of life care launched

Researchers at The Open University have created a grab and go guide to support providers of palliative and end of life care services.

The guide centres around the Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: a national framework for local action, a framework which presents an overarching vision, six ambitions and eight foundations to help local health and social care leaders build accessible, responsive, effective, and personal care at the end of life.

Dr Erica Borgstrom, Dr Joanne Jordan, Dr Una St Ledger from the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, and independent consultant Claire Henry MBE, conducted research funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement and Marie Curie looking into how the Ambitions Framework was being applied and understood by local services. They found that further support was needed to enable providers to embed the framework effectively.

The guide ‘Small Steps, Big Vision - Grab and Go Guide to support the realisation of the Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care’ allows providers in the sector to understand the recommendations in the framework with ease. An accessible and customisable template version was created to allow providers to confidently apply, document and share the specific improvements they are making within their own palliative and end of life care services.

Dr Erica Borgstrom, at The Open University said, “By providing prompts and examples, our Grab-and-Go guide supports people to develop ideas for local action. We have already heard of people using it successfully in workshops to spark discussion and planning.”

Professor Bee Wee CBE, National Clinical Director for End of Life Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement, and Adrienne Betteley, Strategic Advisor for End of life Care, Macmillan Cancer Support said, “The research has triggered dialogue within, and between, Ambitions Partners member organisations and will continue to have a ripple effect on how the national framework can have even greater impact.”

The research team will be holding a free event in September to present project findings, share good examples of the use of the Ambitions Framework and suggest ways in which the framework can be applied to palliative and end of life services.

Read the full story on OU News.