An online training resource for carers and health professionals providing palliative care in the community has won its second award in the four months since it was launched.
The Palliative Care Online Training, developed by JustHealth Consultants in collaboration with Silver Chain, the Deathtalker Molly Carlile and e3Learning, won a high commendation at the Australian Institute for Training and Development’s national training excellence awards in Sydney last week.
It’s the latest accolade for the free online resource, which has attracted 6,500 registered users since it launched in June.
In September the resource won a platinum award for best elearning model in the online category at the LearnX awards, joining fellow winners such as the University of New England, the federal Department of Education, NSW TAFE and the Australian Taxation Office.
Funded by the federal Department of Health, the four online modules cover The Guidelines for a Palliative Approach for Aged Care in the Community Setting and are targeted at nurses, carers and allied health professionals involved in palliative care.
The resource was developed by JustHealth Consultants (JHC), the commercial arm of the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA). Terrie Paul, director of JHC, said a recent participant evaluation showed that the modules significantly increased the level of understanding of the guidelines, “with an overwhelming majority rating their understanding as being excellent or greatly improved after completing the package.”
A pilot of the resource earlier in the year, which attracted over 700 participants, found the resource had filled a gap. “People are finding it’s a niche; it’s something that’s been missing in the palliative care sector,” said Ms Paul.
The four modules cover areas such as: reflecting on the needs of people and their families as they approach end of life; acquiring screening and assessment skills; developing confidence in having end of life care conversations with older Australians; and building self-confidence and resilience in carers.
“It also connects people to a wide network of experts, so there’s help out there if they have queries, there are places they can go and people they can speak to,” said Ms Paul.
She said that while the primary focus is the community setting, the resource is useful to any health professional involved in palliative care. “We’ve had people who work in a rural hospital, for example… I’ve had rural nurses ring me and say they had done the training; they had four palliative patients a year and really didn’t know how to deal with them.”
Professional recognition
The resource has been endorsed by organisations including the Australian College of Nursing and those who complete the training will accrue Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points. A certificate of completion is provided and this can be used to gain Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) from accredited training organisations if carers wish to progress to a formal qualification.
“We’re really encouraging providers and staff involved in training to have a look at this resource,” said Ms Paul. “It’s free and people who complete it will get CPD points. The online format also means people can do the modules in a workshop situation, or individually at their own pace.”
For more, see The Palliative Care Online Training.