Learning networks and communication skills

The project work presented in this paper is funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) January‐December 1999. Our task has been to identify effective communicative practices for different technologies, in relation to the contexts in which they occur, and to feed back information about such practices to the educational community in a context‐sensitive way. The technologies at issue are: video conferencing (one‐to‐one, one‐to‐many, many‐to‐many); text‐based communication (email, bulletin boards, conferencing,) and audio conferencing (telephone tutoring, shared workspace plus audio link). The teaching and learning sites that agreed to take part in this research project provide courses to a variety of learners ‐ undergraduate, postgraduate, professional, full‐ and part‐time — in a spread of subject disciplines. The breadth and range of learning environments represented should maximize the chances of teachers in further and higher education recognizing issues and circumstances that are similar to their own and provide a rich comparative framework. The lecturers from the various teaching sites are regarded as collaborators in this research, identifying their own issues and learning needs, and providing feedback to authenticate the interpretative process. This study approach bridges the practice‐theory gap. We have completed the field work and are midway through analysing and interpreting the data in collaboration with teachers and students involved in the study. This will lead to the production of a flexible resource for individual lecturing staff which can also underpin staff development courses in good practice within networked learning environments. Further details and progress updates can be gleaned from our project web site at http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/tls/ JISC/index.html

COVID, communication and care homes:A staffs’ perspective of supporting the emotional needs of families

An important part of care home life is the support given to older residents by their families/friends through regular visiting. Social visits to residents by their families ceased in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and residents were confined to their rooms. This paper reports on how care home staff improvised to address this situation during the first wave of the pandemic. It focuses on steps taken to maintain communication between residents and families to support emotional well-being. We undertook in-depth café-style interviews with twenty-one staff to explore creative practices that they introduced. It was part of a wider Scottish study examining the effect of lockdown on families whose relative was living/dying in a care home (May–October, 2020). Findings reveal the enormous effort by care staff to maintain family connections and the rapid acclimatisation involved working with a number of different on-line platforms, the pulling together of staff from across the care home, and, the attention to emotional well-being of residents living and dying in the care home. Findings highlight the professionalism and commitment of the leadership and staff involved. Whilst some of the staff accounts need no further comment, we draw on some themes from the care home research literature to make sense of the findings in terms of what we might learn going forward. This in-depth qualitative study emphasises the importance of recognising, fostering and nurturing relational compassionate care within long-term care. There is however little evidence whether health and social care policies recognise the importance of this on-going relationship

Understanding and Reducing the Psychosocial Impact of Coronavirus Social Distancing and Behavioural Changes on Families of Care Home Residents in Scotland

Project Report Aims This project examined the impact of social distancing on care home communities as a result of lockdown to minimise threats of COVID-19 with a particular focus on the health and well-being of family carers and investigated measures taken by care home staff to help families to stay in touch with their relatives in care homes. Key findings The Importance of visits: The experience of being unable to visit their loved ones during the pandemic had a negative impact upon the emotional well-being of the study participants. In our interviews, the inability to touch and see their loved ones caused multiple negative emotions. This was supported by the survey data in which 76% of participants gave responses indicating mental distress. Significance of prior trust: The pandemic has heightened the significance of prior trust in care home staff and management, and the importance of frequent effective communication building trust and confidence when relatives are no longer in the building and able to see good practice in action. COVID-19 led to creative changes in care home practices: Care home staff instituted greater pro-active communication with relatives, and staff reported enhanced confidence in their communication with families. Staff also made great use of digital technology to facilitate communication between residents, family carers and themselves. There was a widely expressed belief that many of these changes could be built on to improve care home practices in the future. Maintaining communication is crucial. Analysis from the survey suggests that respondents who felt they were kept well-informed by the care home on average experienced less mental distress than those who did not. Lack of insight into the impact of lockdown on family carers. Most policy makers and leading figures in the sector had a superficial understanding of the impact of lockdown on family carers. In particular, there was little acknowledgement of family carers as partners in providing care and the importance of that relationship to both care-giver and care-receiver. Human rights. There was a widely expressed concern that the human right to a family life had not been adequately balanced against the risks of infection. Impact on marginalised communities. There was a recognition the pandemic has revealed how little we value older people with dementia within our society and the needs of black and minority ethnic communities. National Guidance. The mixed economy of care home providers meant that it was extremely difficult to implement national guidance in a manner which was consistent, equitable and appropriate across the whole sector