Oxford Centre for Education & Research in Palliative Care, Sobell House Hospice, Oxford

Claire Britton Claire has a keen interest in developing others, one focus is around communication skills and difficult conversations that happen within palliative and end of life care situations. Undertaking a MSc in Clinical Leadership in Palliative and End of Life Care provided key modules to underpin and help develop this.
Claire currently works as a senior specialist palliative care nurse working with the Community Palliative Care Team in Oxfordshire. She has many years of nursing experience in a variety of roles including district nursing, practice development in primary care and her current role supporting patients in management of their symptoms both physical and psychological. She is a freelance educator within OxCERPC.

Alex Jones Alex works as a Cancer Support Specialist at Maggie's Oxford providing psychological and practical support to people affected by cancer. Prior to this she worked for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust in specialist palliative care, as a staff nurse then ward sister. Since then, she has undertaken corporate leadership roles in nursing recruitment and retention, helped to develop a new oncology depression service as part of the psychological medicine team, worked in the hospital palliative care team during the COVID pandemic, and as a breast cancer senior specialist nurse. As a qualified nurse, she holds a First-Class Honours Degree in Adult Nursing and has completed Post Graduate modules in Palliative care, Advanced Communication, Mentoring, and Leadership at Oxford Brookes University. She has trained in Depression Care for People with Cancer incorporating Behavioural Activation and Problem-solving Therapy and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology from the University of East London. She is a freelance educator within OxCERPC.

Day 1
• Advanced communication skills
• Assessment of psychopathologies including depression, anxiety and suicide risk assessment
• Managing stress & adjustment
• Referring on
• Self-care (positive psychology & grounding techniques)

Day 2
• Practical case studies from day 1
• Interventions to support change (motivational interviewing, problem solving and behavioural activation techniques)
• Interventions to manage distress (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy techniques)
• Self-care (self-compassion & strengths)
• Planning for on-going support and supervision

By the end of the course the learner will be able to:
• Recognise and identify specific aspects of communication skills that are key in the assessment, identification, and management of those with psychological needs/distress.
• Describe and differentiate a range of psychopathologies pertinent to clinical practice in palliative care.
• Demonstrate a range of the knowledge and skills required in the assessment process for psychological needs/distress and be able to apply this knowledge to their clinical practice.
• Recognise and develop selfcare strategies as part of their clinical role