This section looks at how to spread and increase the scale of the improvements that have been made in the provision of palliative care and advance care planning for the older persons in your care. Initially you may have introduced the improvement process into one area of your service only, once success has been established, increase the scale and spread, by introducing the improvement through more areas of your service. 6
Develop a plan for upscaling and spread
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Framework for Spread discusses considerations prior to initiating a spread plan and how to develop the plan. It also contains Checklists for Spread including leadership, communication and knowledge transfer:
- Preparing for Spread – it is never too early!
- Establishing an aim for Spread – addresses the “who, what and where” of spread
- Developing an initial plan – addresses the “how” of spread
- Executing and refining the plan
More guidance on developing a plan for spread 22 is available online.
Lessons learned
It is important to identify and document learnings along the way as they will inform the story of working together for the best possible palliative care for older people in your care. Periodic review meetings can be attached to improvement milestones to support continuous learning and identify lessons learned. 23 You may consider attaching “lessons learned” as a permanent agenda item for your working together meetings.
Consider what is going well? Have there been any roadblocks or risks identified? What can be improved? Keep a record of the learnings you identify along the way. 24
Communicating your story
Following the establishment of your successes in improving palliative care and advance care planning for older people, spread the word! 7 This is the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate achievements and to tell your story. Sharing the story of the partnership may also encourage other care providers to work together 6; assist with increasing scale and spread of the improvement in palliative care services for older people; keep care service partners and staff engaged; spread key learnings and maintain momentum.
Give some thought to these points:
- What were the lessons learned from improving the palliative care for older people in your care?
- Who to share your story with – consider your audience 7
- How to share your story – communication options
View a sample Communication Checklist (136kb pdf) (This interactive pdf can be completed online, downloaded and printed for your organisation’s records.)
It is important to consider how to share the information in the most appropriate way for the intended audience. For example, an external funder may expect a formal report, the public (your local community and aged care/palliative care providers) will appreciate a story with personal dimension and policy makers (Commonwealth and State health departments) might require statistics 7.
You may choose to use one of the following approaches to share your story:
- Write up and share Annual or Final Report. (440kb pdf) (This interactive pdf can be completed online, downloaded and printed for your organisation’s records.)
- Write up your story as a Case Study. (441kb pdf) (This interactive pdf can be completed online, downloaded and printed for your organisation’s records.)
Examples of successful partnerships between aged and palliative care service providers is available online.
For inspiration, see the partnership stories from aged care service sites below. In these videos, partnerships have supported service improvement and strengthened approaches to providing quality palliative care and advance care planning.