Older Person's Fellowship Conference 2017 celebrates success of Fellows
The 2016 OPF cohort with the programme leads Corina Naughton and Nicky Hayes, and Baroness Sally Greengross
On Tuesday 20 June 2017, The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery hosted its second national Older Person’s Fellowship (OPF) conference, in collaboration with Health Education England at the Strand campus. The conference brought together previous and current Fellows, academics, clinical leaders and innovators in older people’s care to celebrate the successes of previous Fellows, share expertise and best practice in this area, as well as inspiring positive change in the delivery of care.
This year’s opening speech was delivered by Professor Ian Norman, the Dean of the Faculty, and the first part of the conference was chaired by Baroness Sally Greengross, Member of the House of Lords and CEO of the International Longevity Centre. The day began on a very positive note with Baroness Greengross thanking the Fellows for their high standard of work and determination to improve services for older people.
The highlights of the day included an eye opening talk on the delivery of effective health care for older people in care homes based on existing evidence by Claire Goodman, Professor of Health Care Research at the University of Hertfordshire. This was followed by Quality Improvement (QI) project presentations from members of the 2015 OPF cohort and a poster viewing session, where attendees were able to gain an insight into the Fellows’ quality improvement projects.
These presentations included:
Introducing Frailty Assessment and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) in older women with breast cancerby Caroline Baya
Implementing CGA in integrated care by Enoch Marandure
Patient engagement in self-care in the community by Linda Edmunds
Antipsychotic prescribing in care homes by Ann Collins
Reducing incidence of hospital acquired pressure ulcers by Elizabeth Green
Recognition, treatment and prevention of delirium post hip fracture by Madeleine McMillan
End of Life discussions: developing a training intervention for Care Home staff by Helen Baxendale
Dr Corina Naughton, Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead for the Older Person’s Fellowship presented on the organisational and personal payoffs of the fellowship, and highlighted the need to invest in the workforce to achieve change in practice for older people. This was followed by a presentation by Dr Julie Whitney, Physiotherapist at the King’s College NHS Foundation Trust on Falls Prevention for older people in care homes.
The second half of the conference was chaired by Sir Keith Pearson, Chair of Health Education England who gave a moving speech on the importance of re-enforcing a workforce that is fit for the future, and instilled with strong values that allow staff to look beyond the mask of sickness and see the person behind with care and dignity.
Christine Norton, Professor of Clinical Nursing Research, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery gave a presentation emphasising the importance of improving dignity for older people in hospital and how this can be achieved.
The Fellows’ achievements were also recognised through the project and poster prize giving ceremony which was hosted by Sir Keith Pearson. This year’s winner of the QI project prize was Linda Edmunds, and the poster prizes were awarded to Jo Drever and George Mamombe.
Nicky Hayes, Consultant Nurse and Programme Lead for the Older Person’s Fellowship said: “At King’s we are very proud of the achievements of the Older Person’s Fellows, and are delighted to have this opportunity to provide a platform for them. It is fantastic to see the Fellows achieve their full potential through the Fellowship and through implementing their Quality Improvement Projects. They are poised to lead the way in future older people’s services.”
Professor Lisa Bayliss Pratt, Director of Nursing and Deputy Director of Education and Quality, at Health Education England, said:
“As the population ages, high quality care provided by dedicated, compassionate and highly-trained nurses will become ever more important. I am delighted that HEE, along with our educational partners Kings College London, is leading the way on training the specialist elderly care nurses of the future. The Fellowship is already delivering confident, competent and compassionate leaders – all acting as our ambassadors to transform person-centred services.”
This year’s conference included guest lectures from the Ageing Research at King’s (ARK) division, a cross-faculty multidisciplinary consortium of investigators bringing together scholarship and research in ageing. Professor Finbarr Martin, Emeritus Consultant Geriatrician, Department of Ageing and Health, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust addressed the issue of multi-morbidity and the 'future models of care in an ageing society: implications for workforce development', and Professor Mikel Izquierdo, Professor and Head in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Navarra in Spain presented on the use of 'exercise to improve physical capacity and address frailty in older people: towards a precision prescription era'.
The closing address was given by the President and Principal of King’s College London, Professor Edward Byrne.
For further information, please visit the Older Person’s Fellowship website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/nursing/Older-Persons-Fellowship/Index.aspx.