End of life care: supporting staff in care homes

What is the video about?

This film focuses on how care homes support their staff after the death of a resident. It starts by showing a memorial service at Amberleigh House, a care home in Liverpool, during an annual event that celebrates the lives of residents who have passed away. The service is one of the ways that helps staff to come to terms with the loss of people that they have cared for.  When a resident dies, there is a staff team meeting where people can speak openly about their feelings.  Bereavement support is also a key feature of one-to-one performance reviews. Liz Mumford, the manager of the home says that in the past the needs of staff were rarely considered following the death of a resident, but by ensuring that they have plenty of support they are much better able to cope with the loss.

Messages for practice

1. When a resident in a care homes dies, care staff are very likely to feel affected and bereaved.
2. Good practice lies in acknowledging staff may be affected by a death and need time to reflect on and deal with feelings of bereavement.
3. Staff need to be able to talk openly about their feelings and emotions. Managers can support staff to do this in one to one meetings as well as group settings.
4. This acknowledges the importance of staff to the care and confirms how important and valuable is their contribution to good care.
5. It is important to recognise that grief may take some time to surface in staff following a death.

Who will find this useful?

Care home managers and trainers; care home staff; health and social care commissioners; people using services and carers: GPs and community health professionals