This document summarizes three examples of a public health approach to end-of-life care in England:
1) St. Joseph's Hospice in East London recognized they were not meeting community needs and partnered with the local community for upstream interventions. Initial steps included community dialogue events and training community health guides.
2) Compassionate Neighbors, where over 120 community members have been trained to emotionally and practically support people in their homes. This program aims to make communities more compassionate places to live and die.
3) Cheshire Living Well, Dying Well public health program, which takes a holistic approach through research, education, service development, and public health initiatives to transform end-
1. A public health approach to
EoLC: Examples from England
Dr Libby Sallnow
Research Fellow, St Joseph’s Hospice
London
Doctoral Student, University of Edinburgh
2. Overview of talk
• To review three examples of a public health
approach in England
• To understand how these concepts can be
translated into practice
• To look at the impacts that can follow from
this work
4. St Joseph’s Hospice, East London
• Recognition that we were
not meeting the needs of
our local communities
• Aware we were delivering
a professional service –
not in partnership with the
community
• Resonated with the core
mission and values
• Focus on sustainability
• Upstream interventions
5. Initial Plan (2006)
• Understood that we are not experts in
community development
• Needed to incorporate research from the
outset
• Saw it as a journey – long term funding and
support
• Embed it within the culture of the organisation
• Build local partnerships
• Understand what was already happening
6. First Steps (2007-9)
• Partnership with Social Action for Health
• Strong links within the community
• Dialogue events
• Health Guides
• Presentations to hospice staff
• Staff supported to attend public health and
palliative care conferences
8. Compassionate Neighbours
• Recruit and train
community members to
become
‘Compassionate
Neighbours’
• Support people
emotionally, socially,
practically in their
homes
• Communities not well
represented in the
hospice targeted
9. Compassionate Neighbours
• Developed in
partnership with Social
Action for Health
• Wider role to drive
social change, to make
communities more
compassionate places
to live and die
• Received Cabinet Office
funding to extend
project (2015)
• Now over 120 people
trained
10. Development (2010 – current)
• PhD researcher
• Visits to other centres
• Learning from mistakes and refining the language
• Developing confidence and managing risk
• National networks – Pathfinders, UK branch of
PHPCI
• Funding applications – Cabinet Office, Hackney
Commissioners
• Community ambassadors
• Beginnings of a social movement
