Work-Based Learning in an End of Life Project in the UK

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The paper presents data from an action research project that aimed to improve the quality of end of life care in a district hospital in the UK and to build nursing research capacity through work-based learning. There were three types of work-based learning within this project. The first was the formal and informal work-based learning of the two research nurses who worked on the project both of whom had no previous experience of research but who were experienced practitioners. They learnt how to review clinical records, to conduct a literature review, how to interview and transcribe, and how to present results to a range of audiences. The second was an initiative within the hospital to build health professionals’ research capacity through research briefing sessions targeted at both individuals, and at staff in general in the hospital cafeteria. This covered basic research skills such as literature reviewing and methods of data collection. The third involved participatory learning sessions with hospital and nursing home staff within which study findings were presented and staff formulated ideas for improving end of life care. Work-based learning is a challenge but these three different approaches have strengths and weaknesses that will be critically assessed within this paper.

Stream: Organisational Learning, Organisational Change

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

As an applied medical anthropologist,my research is in the area of gender, ethnicity and promoting equity in health. It ranges from the practical such as setting up new service models like mobile provision for The Bedouin home hospice care, postnatal care at clinics for infants to the theoretical such as ideas of risk, the social construction of statistics, and the social impact of innovative medical technologies. My research programme is Local Voices and Action on Global Health Issues and focuses on community perceptions of health. My work addresses global issues of power, discrimination and inequity in different local contexts. Currently, I am conducting research in England, South Africa and the Middle East. My areas of interest within these broad themes are lay views of health and illness, the links between policy and practice, health inequalities in relation to gender, ethnicity, disability and social exclusion, and user involvement.