This toolkit aims to support registered carers to deliver palliative and end of life care in homely settings – including residential care and people’s own homes. It seeks to address a gap in delivering high quality knowledge support at point of care delivery in home settings, to help the important role that these carers play in the last stages of life for many people. The toolkit also directs carers to further sources of knowledge to support deeper understanding and to explore wider learning opportunities.

The toolkit may also be of use to unpaid, informal carers and as a quick reference resource for nursing staff in care home and community settings.

The toolkit builds on a range of sources, including:

• The Evidence into Action project sponsored by the Scottish Government Office of the Chief Social Work Adviser. This project drew together evidence from research and from the experience of professional carers to identify their knowledge and learning needs in supporting palliative and end of life care.
• Adaptation of elements of the Macmillan Foundations in Palliative Care(FIPC) course. The following sections of the toolkit use Macmillan FIPC content as a starting point.
  • End of life care
  • Communication
  • Managing pain
  • Physical symptoms

The original FIPC content is customised and adapted to support the aims and audience of this toolkit.

• The Palliative Care Knowledge Zone from Marie Curie Cancer Care, which provides content to support the Spiritual Care section of the app/website.

Content is reviewed on a 6-monthly basis.

Disclaimer

The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centrewithin the University of Strathclyde provides this app/website to benefit health and social care organisations across Scotland. Each individual participating organisation which contributes resources to the app/website has sole responsibility for the information created or published by them. Any information appearing on this site is issued as general information and does not constitute a warranty by the Scottish Government or any other organisation, nor should it be taken as advice. No responsibility can be accepted by the Scottish Government or any other organisation for action or inaction as a result of information contained on this app/website. Users should take advice from health and care professionals in respect of specific situations. The use and access of pages of this app/website is subject to the terms and conditions set out below and by this disclaimer. By using or accessing this app/website, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Copyright

Users should consult the copyright statements on the resources within this app/website.

Links to other Websites and applications

The provision on this app/website of a link to another website or application does not constitute any authorisation to access material held at that location. Links to sites are provided for informational purposes only and no responsibility is accepted for the quality of resources to be found on such websites. The contents and material made available on linked sites are completely out with our control and as such no liability is accepted for any damages resulting from accessing or failing to access these sites. No endorsement is expressed or implied by the presence of a link on this app/website. The contents of a linked-to website may change without our knowledge and as a result, links may break or may terminate on pages which were not the original targets of a link. No responsibility or liability for the privacy of personal information is accepted for linked to websites, as these are beyond our control.

Warranties

The resources contained on this app/website, including all files that are authorised for public and password-protected download or access, are provided on an “as is” basis and without any warranties. No warranty is given that files downloaded or accessed from this app/website are free of computer viruses. No warranties are made as to fitness for purpose, quality or completeness of information. This app/website excludes any liability for any errors in or omissions in information provided on or linked to from this website.

Reliability of information

The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre uses its best efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information on this app/website in accordance with the policies defined for this site . However, no guarantees are made that the information contained on this app/website or associated, or linked to websites is accurate, complete and current at any given time. Information presented on this app/website or associated sites may be changed at any time.

The resources made available on this app/website are intended to assist health and social care professionals and citizens in Scotland and are for information only. The app/website is not intended in any way to replace the advice of health and care professionals.

Nothing on this app/website is intended to constitute advice. Specific advice should be sought in specific situations from a properly qualified health or care professional.

Users of this app/website agree to inform the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre using the Contact us form if they should come across any material contained which they consider to be potentially in breach of any relevant policies or of any relevant legislation in order for the appropriate remedial action to be taken.

Availability of the app/website

Although this app/website has been tested and should work correctly under normal circumstances, there are many factors both within and outside of the control of this site which may prevent the app/website from being available to users of the world-wide-web. No responsibility is accepted by this app/website for any losses that may arise from an inability to access resources on this app/website. Where a user finds a specific error in the coding of a web page, or where he/she considers a page to be in breach of accessibility or other published policies of this app/website, it is a condition of use of this site that the web team be notified via the Feedback form in order that appropriate action may be taken.

Governing laws

The terms and conditions of use of this app/website shall be governed by the laws of Scotland.

Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre: This app/website has been developed as part of the National Decision Support Programme funded by Scottish Government as a key objective within Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy. The programme is delivered by the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI). The app and website have been built using the Builder toolset provided as part of DHI’s Right Decision Service.

Scottish Care is a key partner in this development. It is a membership organisation and the representative body for independent social care services in Scotland. As such it has a core commitment to making optimum use of digital technology to innovate and improve delivery of care services.

Macmillan Cancer Support is a key supporter of this app and has kindly granted permission to use and adapt elements of its Foundations in Palliative Care Course content to contribute to this app.

We are also grateful to Marie Curie Cancer Care, which provides content from their Palliative Care Knowledge Zone to support the Spiritual Care section of the app.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Library Network: As part of the National Decision Support Programme, NHS GGC Knowledge Services provided knowledge management and content management expertise to support use of Right Decision Service tools to build this app and website.

Tactuum Ltd: Provide the technology and digital expertise to deliver Right Decision Service tools for the National Decision Support Programme.

Home care icon in website header is provided by Freepik.

The app is compliant with Android and Apple accessibility standards for native mobile apps. The website is compliant with WCAG AA Standards.

The app is supported by Android 4.4 or later and iOS 8.0 or later devices. The website is optimised for use on both desktop and mobile devices in the following browsers - IE9+, Chrome, Edge, Safari. Note that there may be some degradation of display in IE9.