Every death matters, and we only have one chance to get it right.
At NHS Birmingham and Solihull, our vision is to support individuals through the process of dying, meeting their wishes and preferences.
The culturally sensitive end of life care toolkit has been developed and led by NHS Birmingham and Solihull and Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to empower staff. The aim of the toolkit is to strengthen the confidence of staff, as they work with patients, residents and family members, providing a compassionate, person-centred approach to end of life care, whilst working with diverse needs, backgrounds, cultures and religions.
Every person and every culture is different, and a person's needs may change depending on the end of life care. It’s important that staff are aware so they can support these changes and be an advocate for culturally safe end of life care.
This toolkit has been developed to provide advice, guidance, education and support to health and social care teams across Birmingham and Solihull, including staff in care homes, secondary care services, and the voluntary and community sector. The toolkit will enable these teams to improve care outcomes for individuals, as well as their loved ones, as they approach the end of their lives.
We encourage all staff to utilise this toolkit for their learning, and to share the toolkit with health and social care colleagues who would benefit from this, and incorporate this into your organisation's package of learning.
Visit Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's education portal to access the toolkit.
The toolkit contains sections on:
- End of life care
- Religions, including Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Judaism
- Communities and specialist services, including LGBTQ+, learning disabilities, Roma and Travellers, homelessness, asylum seekers, and prisoners
- Advanced care planning checklist
If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact our Frailty Team via email.