Free online course will support end of life care

9th September 2015

Sheffield Hallam University is teaming up with St Luke's Hospice to launch a free online course supporting health and social care workers in providing palliative or end of life care.

The Sheffield Hallam Open Online Course (SHOOC®) will provide a flexible learning opportunity based on conversations about death and dying, increasing awareness of the needs and experiences of patients nearing the end of life and understanding the pressures being faced by carers. The unique online course allows people to take part from home and will commence on 2 November, running for 4 weeks. Each week will focus on a different theme, these are 'talking about death and dying', 'spiritual and cultural aspects of End of Life Care', 'preparing for dying' and 'bereavement'. The course is being hosted in partnership with St Luke's Hospice and is aimed at nurses, allied health professionals, patients, carers, volunteers and service users. Anyone who works in hospitals, hospices and care homes, or any setting in which you could come into contact with patients receiving palliative or end of life care, would find the course useful. Sue Willis, course leader at Sheffield Hallam University said "This course will provide a unique opportunity for participants to reflect on their own beliefs about death and dying and to engage in conversations about end of life, learning from the experiences of patients, carers and specialists in the field." Judith Park, Deputy Chief Executive at St Luke's Hospice said "We are delighted to be strengthening our ties with Sheffield Hallam University and to be working on this exciting new project that will enable us to further extend our links with the wider community. -Palliative care forms a central part in approaches to the issues surrounding death and dying and it is important that St Luke's should bring its experience in this field to the debate.