CARE Course Topic: Spiritual care

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One day Principles and Practice of Palliative and End of Life Care for Homecare workers

Providing the essential building blocks to support people at the end of life and their families

Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Nurse Consultant Development Programme

A one-day training day to increase the confidence and skills of homecare workers caring for people who are approaching the end of life and their families. By attending the training, carers will gain an understanding of:

  • What is palliative and end-of-life care? Dispelling myths
  • Sensitive communication and working with informal carers
  • Maximising the potential of the person you are supporting
  • Recognising and responding to common symptoms 
  • Recognising dying and care in the last days of life
  • Lone working, self-care and reflective practice

St Christopher’s are really pleased to be putting into practice recommendations for palliative and end-of-life training for homecare workers following an extensive study of the first-hand experiences of homecare workers, managers, people receiving care and their family members, health and social practitioners and commissioners.

We are looking to partner with homecare agencies who can send up to 5 team members on our first iteration of this training on Wednesday 11th November with the ask that the attendees also take part in evaluation of the training so we can understand how the training has impacted on practice. 

Attendees will receive refreshments, lunch, a tour of the hospice, a certificate of completion and resources to support their ongoing practice.

We really hope you can join us.

Managers, Carers and Senior Carers at Homecare agencies.

We encourage up to 5 attendees from each agency to maximise the impact.

Gill Early

Gill started her career in a Croydon nursing home at the age of 16 years old. She trained as a nurse, graduating as a Registered General Nurse in 1986.
Read More Gill Early

Additional tutors may present certain sessions on the day.

Principles and Practice of Palliative and End of Life Care

Providing the essential building blocks to support patients and their families at the end of life

Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Nurse Consultant Development Programme

Join us for a one day course, which provides health and social care professionals working in any setting with an introduction to the key principles and fundamental skills in Palliative and End of Life Care.  

What will the course look like? 

By attending this course, you will have the opportunity to discuss, evaluate and increase your knowledge, skills and confidence in end of life care.  

Our course embraces a multidisciplinary approach to support a truly holistic response to caring for people approaching the end of life. 

Our trainers bring together expertise from a range of professional backgrounds. While we acknowledge and speak directly to the unique contributions of individual professions during our sessions, we remain grounded in the core value of effective Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) working. 

The diagram below highlights the five key principles that form the foundation of our course: 

A diagram of the Five Principles

This course is for all professionals working in the health and social care sector who have limited knowledge of, or wish to refresh their understanding of palliative and end of life care. It is suitable for staff across a wide range of settings, including Care Homes, domiciliary care and may also be relevant for those working in primary care, social work, or those new to working in hospices.   

You will understand the difference between palliative care and end of life care and dying (including key definitions). You will be able to explain key terminology and understand the changing face of death and dying with an aging population. You will develop an awareness of personhood and person-centred practice. 

You will understand the importance of key communication skills and how to apply these to common difficult questions from patients and family. You will understand how to manage and support patients and family who are upset or angry as well as considering conversations related to assisted dying. 

What matters to you? A central question to ensure we are person centred in future care planning. We will look at the basic outline of planning ahead and what it involves, including how we document future care planning. We will use scenarios to explore key terms and aspects related to Advance care plans. 

You will understand the importance of maintaining activity and function through deterioration. You will be able to employ basic exercises to maintain function and describe the importance of understanding “What Matters” to each person.  

You will understand and recognise key features of normal dying. You will be able to increase awareness and provision of holistic care at the end of life. You gain an awareness of the five priorities of care of a dying person, and their loved ones and how to relate these to practice.   

You will understand ways of reflecting, including debriefing. You will be aware of wider support such as the NHS guidelines on self-care. 

Gill Early

Gill started her career in a Croydon nursing home at the age of 16 years old. She trained as a nurse, graduating as a Registered General Nurse in 1986.
Read More Gill Early

Additional tutors may present certain sessions on the day.

Principles and Practice of Palliative and End of Life Care – Intermediate Three Day Course for Registered Professionals  

Two female nurses talking to each other

This three-day course provides nurses and Allied Health Professionals working in any setting with the essential building blocks to support patients and their families at the end of life.

What will the course look like? 

This three-day foundational course provides health and social care professionals who are registered with a professional body with the essential building blocks to support patients and families at the end of life. This includes a range of settings including: primary care, acute hospitals, the community and care homes.  

Our course embraces a multidisciplinary approach to support a truly holistic response to caring for people approaching the end of life. 

Our trainers bring together expertise from a range of professional backgrounds. While we acknowledge and speak directly to the unique contributions of individual professions during our sessions, we remain grounded in the core value of effective Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) working. 

The diagram below highlights the five key principles that form the foundation of our course: 

A diagram of the Five Principles
(diagram adapted from Richardson and Cooper, 2024)

This course is for registered professionals working in the health and social care sector (for example a nurse, Allied Health Professional, doctor, registered manager of a care home etc).

This course enables you to build on foundational knowledge of how to provide person-centred, high quality end of life care. You are likely to work in an environment where you will encounter individuals who need such support, such as Care Homes, primary care, social work etc. 

What is Palliative Care? You will be able to explain the history of palliative care including reference to the World Health Organisation definition and NICE guidelines. You will understand the concept of holistic assessment in end of life. You will explore the concept of personhood applied to people with incurable illnesses. 

You will the foundations in communicating with people at the end of their life and their families, particularly in event of them expressing strong emotions. You will be able to support team members who have encountered challenging conversations.  

You will understand how to initiate conversations regarding advance care planning, how and where to document these.  You will understand the legal aspects and key terms such as Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) and Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR). You will consider the barriers of advance care planning and how to address these. You will know the process of registering a death and the legal practicalities involved. 

You will be able to initiate conversations around what matters to individuals and to be able to set goals with individuals.  

You will understand physiological changes during dying and death. You will consider the five priorities of care of a dying person. You will explore care in the last weeks of life and last days of life including medicine management at end of life. You will understand and recognise common symptoms in palliative care. 

You will be able to recognise symptoms and how to report changes including identification of palliative care emergencies. You will understand and apply evidence-based management of pain, breathlessness, nausea and vomiting. You will recognise and can respond to common side effects of common medications at end of life and be able to judge when to initiate a syringe driver.  

You will recognise spiritual needs and how this can be expressed. You will be able to demonstrate how to support a person experiencing spiritual distress. You will reflect on your own spiritual framework and how this can impact on how we care.  

You will understand the diversity and normality of grief. You will be able to reflect on your own experiences of grief and bereavement and recognise and respond to cultural diversity in grief. You will explore models of grief and the concept of anticipatory grief. You will evaluate the difference between normal and prolonged or complicated grief. You will be able to plan support and signpost someone who is grieving to appropriate services.  

You will explore key terms such as equity, inclusion, intersectionality and recognise causes of health inequalities. You will gain an understanding of the current challenges in palliative and end of life care for diverse populations. You will explore factors that influence health inequalities and consider ways in which we can raise awareness to reduce barriers to accessing good quality palliative and end of life care. 

You will recognise stress in yourself and others and understand ways to support colleagues and create an effective working environment that is supportive and enhances wellbeing. You will understand how to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue and how to build personal resilience. You will understand the role of members of the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) in collaborative practice and support. You will reflect on your own experiences of loss and illness and how that impacts how you care for others. 

The next three-day course will be held virtually on Zoom:

  • Tuesday 17 November
  • Wednesday 18 November
  • Wednesday 25 November

We will then hold an in-person course in February 2027:

  • Tuesday 2 February
  • Wednesday 3 February
  • Wednesday 10 February

Previous attendees have said:

“[The teachers] were very knowledgeable and delivered the training with utmost passion for the course.”

“Very knowledgeable and was very helpful. Has changed my mindset of palliative care.”

“Very interactive”

“Keep up the good work in imparting knowledge that will have a great impact on how professionals give care.”

MSc, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate in Palliative Care

Overview

The MSc in Palliative Care course is intended for the future leaders of palliative and end of life care from multi-professional backgrounds (clinical care, teaching and/or research). The course will give you the skills necessary to critically appraise research and evidence on issues of child and adult palliative care to inform clinical practice and service development. This course draws on the research, expertise and international reputations of teaching staff at King’s College London and St Christopher’s Hospice. Other high-profile experts in palliative care and other relevant disciplines and organisations also contribute to teaching.

This course is multi-disciplinary and multi- professional. You will learn alongside palliative care professionals from across the world and from all disciplines at the Cicely Saunders Institute. We have students from a wide range of disciplines and professions including doctors, chaplains, nurses, social workers and physiotherapists.

Course aims

  • Our Palliative Care programme aims to improve competence and confidence to care for adults and children with advanced disease, and for their families.
  • The programme enables participants to develop the skills to critically evaluate evidence of the effectiveness, appropriateness and acceptability of existing interventions and services, both medical and psychosocial.
  • You will develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the many clinical, social, psychosocial, and ethical issues which surround palliative care, and how to assess and deal with them.

Programme content

Core module

  • Research methods and statistics in palliative care

Optional modules

  • Assessment and management of symptoms in advanced diseases
  • Applying psychosocial, culture, spiritual and ethical issues to palliative and end of life care
  • Service development and policy in palliative care
  • Applying epidemiology in palliative care

MSc research project

As an MSc student, you will complete a research project based on your area of interest. This can include collecting new data in your place of work, analysing data collected by researchers at the Cicely Saunders Institute, or systematically reviewing existing evidence.

Flexible learning options

The MSc qualification requires completion of the Research Methods module, plus 3 Optional Modules, and the Research Project.

In addition to the MSc qualification, we also offer a Postgraduate Diploma (Research Methods module + 3 optional modules) and a Postgraduate Certificate (Research Methods Module + 1 optional module).

You can also complete individual Standalone Modules. This enables you to access the programme at a point that is relevant to your circumstances, achieve credits and leave at a point that specifically meets your needs.

Teaching methods – what to expect

The MSc, Diploma and Certificate programme in Palliative Care will be delivered via Hyflex. This means the course will be delivered both in person and online at the same time. As an in-person student, you will taught in the classroom on campus. You will also be joined by other students remotely wherever they are in the world.

The taught components of our modules are delivered in two-week blocks, throughout the year, with time for self-directed learning in between. This is deliberately designed to fit around your commitments at home and at work. 

Formal entry requirements

You should normally have a degree in medicine or nursing, or an upper second class honours degree in life sciences, social sciences, or other approved subject awarded by a United Kingdom university or a recognised overseas university. You should also be able to demonstrate experience of working in palliative care, from a practice or research point of view.

Further information

Full details about the programme are available on the Cicely Saunders Institute MSc webpage.

If you would like to request a programme booklet or have any further queries, please contact us at mscpallcare@kcl.ac.uk.

Palliative and End of Life Care Symptom Management

Applications

Palliative and End of Life Care Symptom Management

This course has been developed in collaboration with Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London (KCL).

Further information on this course and how to book is via the King’s College website here. Please use the contact details below for any queries.

What will I learn?

This module aims to equip nurses to provide active holistic palliative care to patients with advanced progressive illness. It considers the role of the nurse in symptom management and the provision of physical, psychological, social and spiritual support in order to achieve the best possible quality of life for patients and their families.

Who is it for?

This course has been developed in collaboration with Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London (KCL) and can be taken as a 15-credit module at either level 6 or level 7. It is suitable for RNs working in any setting. However, it may be more applicable to those specialising in palliative care.

Course Leader: Karen Gillett Lecturer, King’s College London
Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, King’s College London, 57 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8WA
Telephone 020 7848 3741
Email karen.gillett@kcl.ac.uk