Course delegate
This is a two day interpersonal communication skills course at intermediate level which is aimed at qualified professionals who regularly contribute to the management of care for people approaching the end of life. It aims to equip them to listen to and sensitively explore needs and preferences regarding issues of care.
Recent government policy highlights the need for greater involvement of patients and families in end of life decision making and yet there is evidence that the workforce lacks confidence and skills. Through exploration of theoretical principles of interpersonal communication and advance care planning and practical workshops, the course will encourage participants to reflect on their own misconceptions, blocks and anxieties and to develop a strategy for future practice development.
Please see information on your tutors below:
Maria works as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative Care with St Christopher’s Hospice at the Community team for more than 3 years. Recently has joined the St Christopher’s Centre for Awareness and Response to End of life (StC CARE) for 2 days a week as a Visiting Lecturer.
Her professional experience has always been in EoL and palliative care (PC), spanning across the most varied settings, in clinical work, management, research and teaching, mainly in Portugal, Spain and now in the UK. She also has a MSc in PC and a PhD.
As a PC nurse, she has been at the forefront of the PC activity in Portugal. As a result of that, she is a guest lecturer at top Portuguese universities, mainly at PC master degree and under graduate training, having consistently an active role in the training of other health and social care professionals for more than 20 years.
Maria also has collaborated in the curriculum design, organization and pedagogical intervention of several post graduated courses, workshops, webinars and conferences, in Portugal and now at StC CARE in London. She is a regular participant at international conferences as an invited key speaker, promoting learning and research in several areas in PC, and occasionally even collecting some awards.
Moreover, to share her passion for EoL care and to facilitate learning for students and colleagues is one of Maria’s top professional and personal motivations.
Andrea graduated from UCL – Institute of Education as a Primary school teacher in 1996. She has worked in a range of schools (in the UK and Spain) as class teacher; curriculum coordinator; department and a senior leader for over twenty years. Andrea has been a local authority advisory teacher in Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston and Lambeth. She is experienced in supporting adults to deliver best practice and assisting educational settings (with poor Ofsted ratings) to raise standards.
Andrea worked as a tutor and lecturer for primary initial teacher trainees at UCL – Institute of Education from 2016 – 2021. The role involved supporting teaching practice through observation, formative assessment and awarding qualified teacher status. Andrea supported academic progress by planning and delivering teaching sessions and marking assignments.
Andrea has been a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) since 2018. Fellowship is awarded to professionals who meet the criteria of the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for teaching and supporting adult learning (in higher education). She has excellent understanding of effective approaches to learning and teaching support, as a key contribution to high quality adult learning.
She now works for St Christopher’s Hospice as Virtual Communities Lead where she facilitates learning virtual and face-to-face learning experiences for a range of learners.
Attendees will develop more confidence when approaching sensitive conversions at end of life with patients, their loved ones and fellow professionals (including advance care planning).
There will be a focus on the principles of interpersonal communication, misconceptions, barriers and anxieties through presentations, practical workshops, reflection and discussion.
Day 1:
10:00 Welcome And Introductions
10:30 Key Elements Of Communication In End Of Life Care
11:30 Break
11:45 Dealing With Challenging Situations When Communicating About End Of Life Care
13:00 Lunch break
13:45 Tools To Support Communication in End of Life Care
14:45 Preparation for Day Two
15: 00 Close
Day 2:
10:00 Communication With Families in End of Life Care
11:00 Break
11:20 Communication During The Covid-19 Pandemic In End Of Life Care
12:20 Lunch break
13:05 Roleplay
14:05 Reflections On Effective Communication In End Of Life Care
14:45 Summary
15:00 Close
If you have any questions about this or any of our other courses, please contact the Education team who will be happy to help
At St Christopher's, a registered charity, it is important for us to maximise any surpluses to reinvest in the objectives of the charity.
Unfortunately, the manner in which we undertake our training currently means we are not able to invest as much of our surplus as possible, therefore from the 1 December 2017, St Christopher’s Education Centre will charge VAT at the standard rate on our training courses, the reason for this change in pricing is twofold:
i) We want to be able to reinvest any surpluses made from training back into all of our charitable objectives rather than only Education
ii) We want to be able to reclaim the VAT on costs relating to developing and running the training courses