Willowbrook Hospice - Chatty Café
Overview:
In 2022, Willowbrook launched the Compassionate Neighbours project, led by its Volunteering Hub, with the aim of addressing social isolation and loneliness in the communities of St Helens and Knowsley, as well as supporting Willowbrook patients living with life-limiting conditions. The project connects local volunteers, referred to as Compassionate Neighbours, with individuals facing the challenges of illness and isolation. These volunteers offer 1:1 companionship and emotional support, helping individuals to combat loneliness and improve their quality of life. The project started as a small initiative but quickly revealed the broader need for this kind of service in the community.
Learning:
From the initial phase of the project, several key insights emerged:
Widespread Issue of Social Isolation: Social isolation, particularly among individuals dealing with long-term illness, is a significant issue, often compounded by financial poverty. This issue affects people from diverse backgrounds, including those who may have physical support but lack emotional support.
Impact on Mental Health: Volunteers not only helped with practical tasks such as shopping and housekeeping, but their presence also led to marked improvements in clients’ mental health and overall well-being. Clients gained a renewed sense of self-worth, and some were able to regain confidence and engage in activities they had previously avoided.
Physical and Emotional Benefits: One example of success was a client who, after receiving support, was able to leave their home for the first time in four years, leading to both physical and emotional improvements. Volunteers provided valuable companionship, contributing to clients’ health and reducing the strain on local healthcare systems.
Challenges with 1:1 Support: The initial 1:1 model became difficult to manage due to the high demand for support and limited volunteer availability. This led to an increase in waiting times and a relatively small reach across the population, despite the team’s best efforts.
The start:
Building on the lessons from the initial phase, Willowbrook expanded the Compassionate Neighbours service to include group activities, such as Chatty Cafés. These gatherings, initially hosted at the Living Well building in St Helens and later expanded to Eccleston Park in Prescot, have allowed the project to reach a broader audience. Clients and their companions could meet in a relaxed social setting, providing further opportunities for support and connection.
Positive Impact of Group Activities: The Chatty Cafés enabled the project to engage more individuals and have a wider positive impact. Trained volunteers provided both emotional support and practical guidance to those nearing the end of life, as well as those experiencing loss or dealing with poverty. These group events also opened up discussions around sensitive topics such as death, dying, and loss, encouraging greater community engagement on these issues.
Collaborations for Greater Reach: To increase the reach and effectiveness of the service, Willowbrook has partnered with social prescribers from the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in St Helens North, St Helens Central, and Knowsley. These collaborations help ensure that the service reaches those who need it most. Additionally, Willowbrook is actively exploring the possibility of additional venues to further expand the program’s availability.
Through these initiatives, Compassionate Neighbours has evolved from a small, volunteer-driven effort into a broader community resource that provides not only practical support but also emotional and social connection to those in need.
Next Steps:
Expansion Plans: Based on the success of the initial Chatty Café venues, Willowbrook is actively planning to expand these social events into new areas, specifically Whiston and Prescot. Suitable venues are being scouted to ensure these new locations can accommodate the growing demand for the service.
Review of Roles and Recruitment: The role of the Chatty Café Coordinator has been thoroughly reviewed and refined to ensure it aligns with the growing needs of the program. As a result, it has been decided that, to best meet the needs of the community and to maximise the impact of the awarded grant monies, the project would be best run over a 2 year period.
A job advert for the new Chatty Café Coordinator role has been completed, and recruitment for this position is set to begin in early January, utilising an updated job description and personal specification to reflect the responsibilities and qualifications necessary for the position.
Through these steps, Willowbrook is positioning itself to extend the reach and impact of the Compassionate Neighbours program, ultimately creating more opportunities for individuals to engage, receive support, and build social connections in their communities.
Willowbrook Hospice – DN support service
Overview:
In 2023 Willowbrook launched the DN support Service Pilot with funds from the Oliver Lyme’s charity. The purpose of the pilot was to support the district nursing service to care for palliative patients in the community to help prevent unnecessary hospital admission and to support the education and training of newly qualified nurses working in the district nurse team with ad hoc sessions during staff breaks and when shadowing hospice staff. The pilot was extremely successful, and we were able to demonstrate the impact through qualitative data from patients and families. The district nurses also valued having palliative care experts working alongside them.
Unfortunately, no monies was available from the ICB to commission the DN support service but the hospice reapplied to Oliver Lyme’s for further funding and was useful. The hospice has now been able to continue the service for another 12 months utilising band 6 and band 7 nurses.
Current Position:
The service is working well, and the hospice has now formalised the education and training for the district nurses by utilising the hospice practice development facilitators. They have provided and continue to provide the below education sessions:
1. palliative care course (1 day)
2. Syringe driver training (half day),
3. Opening the Spiritual Gate (1 day)
4. Advanced Care Planning (1day).
Feedback and Impact from the hospice nurse:
Hospice Nurse saw a gentleman at home, where he was struggling with pain, agitation, and delirium. She contacted the GP for review, suggesting a trial of Haloperidol for delirium. Unfortunately, this was not actioned for a week and was only subsequently completed by the GP after a call to the hospice advice line. By this point the family were in crisis and struggling to manage due to the patients ongoing delirium and agitation, resulting in the GP completing a referral for inpatient admission. The referral was seen by the hospice Advanced nurse practitioner (ANP). The referral sent from the GP did not have adequate information, so a request was sent for a more comprehensive referral. Because the hospice nurse knew this gentleman, the ANP discussed him with her. The hospice nurse saw the patient that day and was able to administer PRN medications ( As and When ) and also make changes to his syringe driver to better manage the patient’s pain and agitation. She was able to discuss hospice referral with the patient and his family, explaining the referral process and exploring concerns and expectations. She then completed an extremely thorough and comprehensive inpatient referral, ensuring the hospice team had all the relevant information to help plan admission. Thanks to her input this gentleman was much more comfortable and settled, requiring no further PRN medication since the changes she made to his syringe driver. After a further review by the hospice nurse, his family felt reassured and better able to cope, agreeing they wanted him to stay at home rather than come to the hospice. I wanted to highlight the standout, exemplary nursing care that the hospice nurse offered this gentleman. Throughout all her interventions she completed thorough, holistic assessments, offering advice and suggestions with the aim of ensuring this patient’s needs where met. She acted with compassion and empathy, offering support to both the patient and family. Unfortunately, it took some time to manage this man’s symptoms, but I feel once she was able to gain oversight of this patient and provide continuity of care, his symptoms become much better controlled. Her excellent knowledge and overall dedication to her patients stands out in this case, and I wanted to ensure I offered this feedback to you all so that it can be used as part of her appraisal process. This example illustrates the positive impact our nurses are having, but the importance of continuity.