A CONFERENCE on delivering excellent palliative and end of life care for care home residents will be held by Wigan and Leigh Hospice in March 2019.
‘Living and Dying Well in a Care Home’ will focus on the knowledge and skills needed to care for residents who are nearing the end of their lives. It will also explore how to enable individuals with a palliative condition to lead a full life.
The conference will be held by the Hospice in your Care Home team which currently works with 11 of the Borough’s 21 care homes. For the past 3 years the team have been delivering training to care home staff in how to care for residents with palliative and end-of-life care needs.
Debbie Dempsey, Manager of the team, said: “Care homes provide a significant amount of palliative and end of life care, so it is vital that staff are adequately trained in how to provide the best possible care for their residents. This conference will highlight some of the innovations in end of life care taking place in care homes and make recommendations on how staff can support residents to lead a full life, which reflects their preferences and wishes.
“We are fortunate to be joined by some exceptional speakers including Dr Peter Fenwick who will speak on the fascinating subject of deathbed visions and Dr Ann Johnson MBE, a care home resident who will describe her personal experience of dementia.”
The national conference will be chaired by Tracey Bleakley, the CEO of charity Hospice UK, and will also feature presentations by Consultant Geriatrician from NHS England Dr Martin Vernon who will discuss his work in Frailty Care. Musician Mary Dunsford will speak about the importance of music at the end of life and Cath Barton will present a session on the Community Circles project operating in the Borough.
The one-day event will take place on Wednesday 13th March 2019 at Leigh Sports Village.
The conference will be of interest to anyone who may provide support to care homes or work with individuals with palliative and end-of-life care needs, including care home owners and staff, GPs, social workers, District Nurses and hospital trust staff.
Further information is available at www.wlh.org.uk. Alternatively please contact the Hospice in your Care Home team at Wigan and Leigh Hospice on 01942 525566 or email: hiych@wlh.org.uk.