This NEE project involved a collaborative approach with key stakeholders to upskill care home staff with the tools they need to deliver safer medicines management and cascade their knowledge and learning to help and support colleagues.
The PrescQIPP E-Learning care homes medicines courses was used as the foundation on which to build the extended training programme. Carers can only apply for the face to face training course if they have registered for the E-Learning. To help embed and support the carers with E-learning, three sessions of face to face training were provided using an innovative approach focussing on behaviour change, in addition to core medicines management principles.
A company experienced in delivering behaviour change training, neoNavitas ltd, were commissioned to work with NEE and ECC to design a programme which would address the specific needs of the care homes and deliver a consistent message to care homes across the area.
The training is delivered using a mixture of learning styles and is designed to empower and upskill the carers giving them the confidence to take the learning back to the homes and help support other members of staff. A holistic approach to medicines administration is encouraged allowing carers to adapt their behaviour to meet the needs of the individual residents rather than the convenience of the home.
Feedback from attendees so far has been extremely positive. Presently 28 carers have completed the training covering 15 homes with a further 13 carers in training. The aim is to attract attendees from a much wider number of care homes so that this initiative is adopted by as many carers as possible and many more homes can benefit from the programme.
