Champions of Change-

Advance Care Planning

Mentoring Pilot

Application Guideline

Introduction

Advance care planning facilitates person-centred care when a person can no longer express their healthcare preferences. The Department of Health and Human Services (the department) and Austin Health Advance Care Planning Department have developed an advance care planning mentoring program to assist organisations to create effective mentoring opportunities to embed advance care planning into routine clinical practice. Expressions of interest are being sought from Victorian health services to trial the ‘Champions of Change- Advance Care Planning Mentoring Pilot’ and assist with further design and refinement of the model.

Background

Victorian health services have made a commitment to the delivery of advance care planning and education. Austin Health and the department reviewed the findings of recent initiatives that sought to ascertain the status of the strategy’s implementation in Victoria:

  • A scoping survey to determine progress made by Victorian health services in implementing the strategy at local level
  • Participant feedback from Victorian Advance Care Planning Forums 2015/2016
  • Responses from workshops run by the Groupwork Institute to build advance care planning capacity in experienced advance care planning clinicians
  • Results of a telephone survey of 9 health services conducted in 2016 to ascertain how they were building capacity for advance care planning conversations outlined in priority action 3.

Systemic changes have been made to support advance care planning in Victorian health services, however there are challenges in supporting people who want to develop deeper advance care planning skills beyond initial education and training. Organisations have taken many different approaches to education and mentoring to build workforce capacity, but have not identified a specific skill set required of an advance care planning clinician and/or mentor.

Mentors require knowledge of teaching principles to assist mentee skill development. Austin Health has consulted with educators and advance care planning clinicians across Victorian health services to co-design a pilot mentoring model. ‘Champions of Change- Advance Care Planning Mentoring Pilot’ has been developed to enable organisations to create effective mentoring opportunities and embed advance care planning in routine clinical practice.

Objectives

The objectives of this program are to:

  • Trial the Champions of Change- Advance Care Planning Mentoring Pilot to establish the effectiveness and robustness of the model
  • As part of the pilot, test and refine the mentoring tools to ensure they are effective for advance care planning
  • Increase organisational capacity to incorporate advance care planning into routine person-centred care
  • Increase person-centred care within the organisation measured by increased numbers of advance care planning alerts
  • Create a sustainable mentoring program for advance care planning for all Victorian Health Services

Scope

Three Victorian health services will be selected to participate in this pilot, one metropolitan, one regional and one rural organisation. The pilot will run for four months; however organisations may choose to continue to use this model beyond the pilot. Data will be collected throughout the pilot to refine the model. All data collected will be de-identified and summary data may be used for reportsand/or presentations.This is a quality improvement, non-funded initiative of the department and Austin Health Advance Care Planning Department.

Benefits

Organisation benefits include increasing advance care planning capacity organisation-wide and adding to the organisations’ quality portfolio for Standard 1 and 9.

The structure of the pilot will develop all clinicians’ knowledge of mentoring, and advance care planning. It will enhance professional relationships and increase confidence in having advance care planning conversations. It may also be included as Continuing Professional Development hours for the clinicians involved.

The patient or client will have increased opportunities for advance care planning and subsequently increased patient-centred treatment decision making and improved healthcare experience.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications are open to all public health services in Victoria. Each participating site must:

  • Have established advance care planning policies and procedures
  • Offer a formal advance care planning education workshops or refer clinicians to accredited advance care planning education, for example Advance Care Planning Australia online modules
  • Be implementing the department’s advance care planning policy
  • Have at least one advance care planning ‘lead’ (an experienced advance care planning manager or coordinator who will provide mentoring)
  • Be able to select at least five clinicians of varying professional backgrounds to be mentees (who have an interest in advance care planning, but have not yet completed an advance care planning document)
  • Commit to:
  • Four months of the mentoring pilot
  • Attend a Mentoring Workshop to be orientated to the pilot program
  • Following the pilot structure and use the tools provided
  • Weekly meetings between mentor and mentees
  • Provision of data in order to evaluate the pilot. Both mentor and mentees will be required to contribute to the evaluation
  • Have endorsement of the organisation to participate in the pilot

Support

Each participating site will receive a Mentoring Tool Kitincluding:

  • Mentoring handbook
  • Learning contract
  • Learning plan
  • Skills checklist
  • Action statement
  • Self-reflection tool

Support will be provided by the Austin Health Advance Care Planning Mentoring Coordinator including:

  • Assistance in establishing the program
  • Support and assistance in the initial use of the tools
  • Assistance establishing the mentoring relationship
  • Organisation site visits
  • Email and telephone support as required

Methodology

The pilot relies on the commitment of the organisations involved to follow the mentoring structure. The participants will attend a mentoring workshop (on site) to be orientated to the program and the Mentoring Tool Box.

The mentor and mentee will establish a learning contract and plan, meet weekly,and email aweekly reflection tool to each other and the Austin Advance Care Planning Mentoring Coordinator. The advance care planning process will be broken down to elements to ensure the mentee is comfortable and competent in one aspect of advance care planning before moving onto more advanced advance care planning elements. Participants will also be required to complete a survey before, during and after the program to measure the effectiveness of the mentoring framework and will be asked to provide advice regarding refinement of the model.

Expression of Interest Assessment Criteria

Item: / Criteria
Rationale for participation: / -Seeks to improve advance care planning capabilities
-Change model of care of advance care planning at their organisation
-Increase understanding of advance care planningwithin their organisation
-Align advance care planning with Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016
Has an advance care planning policy/procedure / Yes/No.
Organisation is willing to participate in the pilot structure? / Yes/ No.
Mentor experience in advance care planning: / -Number of years performing advance care planning
-Member of the Advance Care Planning Special Interest Group
-Member of a department-related advance care planning committee
-Attends advance care planning conferences
-Involved in advance care planning research
Mentor experience in teaching, coaching, mentoring or supervision: / -Any formal qualifications
-Participation in courses/ workshops
-Currently teaches, coaches, mentors or supervises in a formal capacity
Are there two appropriately skilled mentors available? / Yes/ No.
Can the health service identify 5 appropriate staff members as mentees? / Yes/ No.
Mentor(s) and mentees have endorsement to undertake the pilot by manager(s)? / Yes/ No.
Program and advance care planning medical lead endorsement? / Yes/ No.
Is there baseline data on the number of Advance Care Plans or Substitute Decision Makers created each month? / Yes/ No.

Appraisal

The applications will be reviewed for eligibility by Austin Health Advance Care Planning Department and assessed by a panel which will consist of the department and members of the Advance Care Planning Advisory Committee.

Key Dates

Activity / Date
Opening date for applications / 22August 2017
Closing date for applications / 1 September 2017
Sites advised of outcomes / 8 September 2017
Mentoring Program commences / 18 September 2017
Mentoring Program ends / 31 January 2017

Further Information

Further information regarding the Champions of Change- Advance Care Planning Mentoring Pilotapplication can be obtained from:

Advance Care Planning Australia

Austin Health

Phone: (03) 9496 5660

Email:

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