REGULAR
Time To Train The Trainer
Our regular columnist Stroke Association explains how care providers can deliver stroke awareness training in the most cost-effective way.
As the care needs of the UK’s aging population continue to increase, so too are the demands placed on the social care workforce. With this in mind it is crucial that staff within the sector are trained to recognise and understand stroke, the largest cause of complex disability in the UK.
It was for these reasons that the Stroke Association successfully applied for a Scottish Government grant in March 2013, to deliver a training project aimed at improving knowledge and skills within the social care and community support sectors in vascular health and stroke awareness. The funding received supported the development and delivery of a Train the Trainer programme.
Stroke is a key health issue for health and social care services. Improvements in acute stroke care have led to proportionally more people surviving stroke with half of all survivors requiring some support to carry out everyday tasks. Significant numbers of people need, and will continue to need social care and community support, or long term residential care after stroke, and this factor is unlikely to change in the medium to long term.
The overall aim of the vascular health and stroke training programme was to improve the knowledge and skills of frontline staff in the social care and community workforce. This would then support the prevention of stroke and related vascular condition. To date, during this project, 147 ‘Stroke Awareness Leads’ were trained, with training being filtered down to 891 of their colleagues within the social care sector.
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Due to the success of the project, we are now able to deliver the Training for Trainers programme, to trainers across the UK. The scheme allows us to train individuals in a care environment to become a ‘Stroke Awareness Lead’, giving them the skills to deliver the ‘Stroke Aware’ sessions to your colleagues.
The two-day course provides participants with support, resources and the information required to increase the awareness of stroke and its effects. As part of the course, partakers will complete the Stroke Association Level 2 qualification in Stroke Awareness & Acquired Brain Injury and become part of the Stroke Awareness leads network.
The outcomes of the training ensure that the ‘Stroke Awareness Lead’ has improved understanding of:
• Vascular health, vascular disease and stroke – including causes, prevention measures and effects.
• The links between stroke and related conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart conditions (including Atrial Fibrillation) and vascular dementia.
• Recognition of signs and symptoms of stroke and need for emergency response (FAST).
• The impact of stroke on stroke survivors (physical, mental, social, economic) and their care and support needs.
• Impact of stroke on unpaid carers and families.
Around 80% of all strokes are preventable but only if an individual can understand the risk factors, the
“One of our Care in the Home clients has had two separate incidents where the training that has been delivered to their staff from their Stroke Awareness Lead has resulted in two emergency referrals for service users who were having TIAs.
“In both incidents the staffs’ concerns met with obstacles from GP and emergency services. They were told the TIA would pass and it was not to be considered an emergency. Following their training they were able to quote all the signs and symptoms including the results from doing the FAST test, and had the confidence to push for the emergency intervention. In both cases the service users went on to have a full stroke in hospital.”
Feedback received from Scotland Stroke Awareness Lead
consequences of taking the risks and then make an informed choice in relation to their own health.
To enrol for one of the Training for Trainers courses please click here.
www.stroke.org.uk www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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