thinkpublic are currently working with a London Cancer Network to help increase the use of the Liverpool Care Pathway in 5 different hospitals across London.
Over the past few years a major drive has been underway to ensure that all dying patients, their relatives and carers receive a high standard of care in the last days and hours of their lives. The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) provides an evidence based framework for the delivery of appropriate care for dying patients and their relatives and encourages a multi-professional approach to delivery that focuses on the physical, psychological and spiritual comfort of patients and their relatives that has also been shown to empower staff in the delivery ofcare. The LCP was developed for use in hospitals and they are the focus of this piece of work however it can be used in other care settings.
We’ll be involved in:
- Discovering qualitative information about a “good death”
- Seeking to understand the experiences of patients and families who have not been on the LCP
- Seeking to understand the decision making process as whether and when people are put on the LCP
- Identifying demographic and cultural factors affecting the use of the LCP
- Bringing together relevant staff to come up with ideas for improvement
- Getting commitment to implement, test and measure improvements
- Building capacity in palliative care teams to run our Experience Based Design processes
Alongside the practical service improvement work, thinkpublic recognise the importance of linking this to the wider landscape of policy and culture in regards end of life, death and dying. We are therefore also hosting a series of events during the life span of the project to engage a wider audience and open up the conversation to support changing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours around death and dying.
As the brilliant initiative Dying Matters states:
“Without communication and understanding, death and terminal illness can be a lonely and stressful experience, both for the person who is dying and for their friends and family. Dying people and their families can experience a tremendous sense of isolation and can feel shut out of social circles and distanced from their communities. A lack of conversation is perhaps the most important reason why peoples’ wishes go ignored or unfulfilled; if we do not know how to communicate what we want, and those around us do not know how to listen, it is almost impossible to express a clear choice.”
If you’d like to get involved in any of these events or feel that there are initiatives we should be in contact with then please email : cassie.robinson@thinkpublic.com
Links:
http://www.dyingmatters.org
http://www.endoflifecare.nhs.uk/eolc/lcp.htm