Self-Management Today e-newsletter for self-management community, kate lorig, QISMET, Staying Positive, EPP Wales, Careum Patientenbildung in Switzerland, arthritis care week

Issue 3 May 2010

Welcome

Welcome to another edition of Self-Management Today.

It's been a busy couple of months for the National Register. Kate Lorig , the founder of the CDSMC, made a visit to London at the end of February. Kate met up with the T-Trainer group to discuss revising the tutor training manual. Jim Phillips discusses some of the developments that came from the meetings below. During the week, Kate also kindly ran a Master Class for Lead Trainers. A DVD will be available shortly and snippets of the event will be available online after that.

We are also working hard putting together the new Passport to Practice. This a Record of Achievement folder style document that allows you to log your training and also store your notes, certificates and any further training you undertake. For Lead Trainers and Assessors the Passport to Practice will contain all the necessary forms to return to the National Register to confirm new tutors accreditation status.

In addition, work has begun on our new website. Once the build is complete the site will include a members only area, forums, news archives, downloadable resources and much more... We have our fingers tightly crossed that this will be ready within the next month or so!

In this issue as well as the report on Kate Lorig's visit we have some other interesting stories. Sally Cavanagh, recently appointed at QISMET updates us on their progress and achievements over the last couple of months, Ed Low, one of the youngest tutors in the country, talks about his experience as a facilitator for the Staying Positive programme for young people with long-term conditions and Sarah Chronin from Wales discusses what things are like for EPP across the border.

We have a new addition to this month's newsletter, at the bottom of the e-newsletter we have a new news digest. On you behalf we have scoured the press for news and topical articles that we think you may find of interest.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Self-Management Today and as ever if you have any comments or feedback then please let us know. Our contact details are at the bottom below the news items.

Thanks and enjoy...

Kate Lorig's Visit

By Jim Phillips, Policy Director, EPP CIC

Last month we were delighted to be able to host a visit from Professor Kate Lorig. Kate developed one of the very first self-management programmes aimed at people living with Arthritis and went on to develop the Chronic Disease Self-Management course. That was the first programme used by the Department of Health in developing the Expert Patients Programme.

Kate was in London to work with the UK T Trainers (T Trainers are responsible for training Lead Trainers who train tutors) to develop a new tutor training manual. With T Trainers from England, Scotland and Wales, this was a truly collaborative week.

The aim is to have a new Lead Trainer manual ready to be rolled across the UK in the autumn which will ensure a consistent approach to tutor training across all organisations.

While she was here Kate took time out to run a Master Class for Lead Trainers. Over 50 Lead Trainers attended from a wide range of organisations. Some important points were discussed in relation to the courses and tutor training. Kate reminded everyone that the course has been designed to run most effectively with between 8 and 16 people. Another topic discussed was the notion that we should be much rigorous concerning tutor training and who is allowed to go on and deliver. She made the point that when a tutor has completed the initial tutor training they should be good enough to deliver in the community.

As part of the new tutor training there will be much more detailed criteria against which tutors will be assessed, with a tutor's performance over the whole tutor training being taken into account. One outcome of tightening up the pass criteria for tutor training may be a reduction in the number of assessment visits needed to reach accreditation.

Kate reminded everyone the whole purpose of tutor training is to get tutors to the point where they can deliver the CDSMC safely and appropriately. So whilst an understanding of the social model of disability may be nice to know it is not essential for delivery.

The new manual will focus on ensuring tutors are able to deliver the CDSMC in an engaging and confident manner - activities such as adult education, the gold fish bowl and the social model will all go to make space for improving core delivery skills.

A DVD was made of the afternoon and will be made available shortly.

QISMET

By Sally Cavanagh, QISMET Development Manager

I’ve recently begun a secondment to QISMET as the Development Manager and have joined at an exciting and pivotal moment.

QISMET is shorthand for the Quality Institute for Self-Management Education and Training.

In the last year QISMET has made significant progress toward developing a quality mark certification scheme for lay led self-management programmes originating from Stanford University (e.g. the Chronic Disease Self-Management Programme, CDSMP) using SS2Q. This is about to go live in the West Midlands where a number of PCTs have made certification via QISMET a criteria for commissioning organisations which provide CDSMP courses.

In preparation for responding to requests for QISMET Certification from the 10 organisations which have been selected so far in the West Midlands, QISMET has just completed training its first 12 Auditors. Over the coming months they will be conducting the first QISMET certifications ever undertaken.

QISMET has a number of other important projects planned for this year including developing QISMET certification of Structured Diabetes Patient Education Programmes and QISMET standards which will be ‘universal’ for all types of self-management programmes.

Organisations which achieve certification will carry the QISMET logo pictured here. QISMET’s aim is that over time this will become as familiar within the self-management education arena as the BSI kitemark is to industry.

If you’d like to know more, or sign up for the QISMET newsletter please email info@qismet.org.uk

Being a young diabetic and working as a facilitator for Staying Positive workshops

By Ed Low, Staying Positive

Being a Type 1 diabetic isn’t easy. Of course, you have the Mars bars and other glorious treasures during lessons and you can skip lunch queues, but there’s a lot more to it than just the simple goodies. Let’s leave it at injections, blood sugar monitoring and mothers.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of nine, although at the time I hadn’t a clue of what diabetes meant. A short while afterwards, I met a very nice man named Alex Hawkey, he was also a Type 1 diabetic, and he’d given up a lot of his time for charities. Later on he started talking to me about becoming a facilitator for something called ‘Staying Positive Workshops’. It sounded great, and it is. The training took place in a hotel situated in Oxford, and it was a fantastic stay. I met a lot of young people also training for the workshops and we had two facilitators called Sharlene and Lee showing us what it was all about, whom I will never forget for being great mentors.

Now I am delivering workshops in Brighton along with two other young facilitators, Caitlin and Beth. To date, we have delivered one workshop and are about to step into our second. It’s great to know that as a team we can make someone’s life with diabetes a bit easier, and I can say for sure that I will never regret working as a facilitator for Staying Positive.

For further information on Staying Positive please contact Cathy McMachon on 07500 039717 or email catherine.mcmahon@eppcic.co.uk. Alternatively, visit www.staying-positive.co.uk

EPP Wales

By Sarah Cronin, Principal Trainer, EPP Wales

CDSMP was introduced to Wales during 2004, and by 2007 EPP Wales was able to offer EPP programmes across the whole of the Principality. In Wales we deliver CDSMP and the Looking After Me (LAM) Course for carers.

EPP Wales has recently moved from the Welsh Assembly Government into the NHS and we are currently hosted by the National Leadership and Innovation Agency for Healthcare (NLIAH).

EPP Wales employs a team of local co-ordinators, the majority of whom work 3 days a week. The role of the co-ordinator is to co-ordinate courses within a given locality and manage a team of volunteers who deliver the programme. All EPP Wales course tutors are volunteers and all have experience of living or caring for someone with a health condition. 12 out of the 16 EPP Wales Co-ordinators are hosted within the NHS with Local Health Boards, and the 4 others are hosted within the voluntary sector.

There are 12 accredited EPP Assessors and 4 Lead Trainers who support the quality assurance framework.

Typically in a year EPP Wales delivers over 100, 6 week community courses, 3 tutor training events, 2 LAM conversion training events and one assessor training event. Across Wales we manage over 120 volunteer tutors.

National Volunteers Week, during June 2010, will see EPP Wales host their first Wales-wide Volunteer Celebration Event to thank the team of volunteer tutors for their time, commitment and enthusiasm to the programme. Kate Lorig has agreed to give the opening address and thanks – all via modern technology!

As a member of the UK T Trainer group, I link with EPP CIC and other organisations delivering Stanford self-management programmes. This group provides a real opportunity to share good practice, experience and knowledge. The UK T-trainer group meets once a quarter and I am looking forward to being part of the UK wide T-trainer peer reviews, taking place later this year.

For courses in Wales visit our website www.eppwales.org

Arthritis Care Week 24-30 May 2010

By Riikka Williams, Arthritis Care

Over nine million people in the UK are living with arthritis and it is the most frequent cause of chronic pain in the UK. Yet awareness of the impact of the condition, and what can be done to improve day to day living, is still very low.

This year Arthritis Care Week – 24 May to 30 May – will be focusing on the hidden impact of pain. The message of the awareness week is simple: if you have arthritis, don’t struggle alone with the pain. There is plenty of support available for anyone affected by arthritis, empowering them to take control of their condition and make positive changes to their lives.

During the awareness week, UK’s leading charity Arthritis Care is encouraging people right across the UK to do a sponsored Amble for Arthritis, to help promote walking as a way to ease the pain of the country’s biggest single cause of disability and raise much-needed funds to provide practical and emotional support to people with arthritis.

Kate Llewelyn, head of information services from Arthritis Care, said "Walking helps maintain muscle tone and joint stability, increases bone density and reduces joint stiffness. It controls weight which reduces the strain on vulnerable joints. It is the perfect way for many people with arthritis to enjoy the countryside and manage their symptoms."

To find out more about the Arthritis Care Week, self-management and how to organise an Amble for Arthritis in your local area, please visit http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/GetInvolved/ArthritisCareWeek2010

New partner in supporting self care and patient education – Careum Patientenbildung in Switzerland

Careum Team 2010

By Joerg Haslbeck, DrPH, MScN, Careum Patient Education

The Careum Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland, is a new member in the global network on supporting self care and patient education especially for people with chronic conditions and their families.

Established in 1882, Careum is an acknowledged and independent institution for education and training of health care professionals in Switzerland. Its overall intention is to provide innovative ideas on developing high performance in health care education and to support innovation in health care. Since 2010, Careum has widened its focus to include empowering patients and supporting self care. Following a number of international examples including the UK experiences with EPP CIC, Careum will launch a Chronic Disease Self-Management Programme in Switzerland and is also creating an independent network platform for patient education, the Careum Patient Campus. The overall objective is both to connect existing (inter-)national approaches in patient education and self care as well as to support the development of new ones.

Careum Patientenbildung is managed by Prof. Dr. Ilona Kickbusch (middle) and Dr. Jörg Haslbeck, MScN, with assistance from Cordula Natau. More information on the activities of Careum Patientenbildung is available online: www.careum-patientenbildung.ch(English version under construction).

Putting Patients first – the Careum Congress 2010 on the role of patients in shaping the healthcare system of the future, November 11th/12th 2010

As empowering patients is of increasing importance, the Careum Foundation is also emphasizing the active role of patients in health care on its annual congress, November 11th/12th 2010, Zurich, Switzerland. This year’s Careum Congress is on “The power of patients – patients’ role in shaping the healthcare system of the future”. Together with national and international partners, a wide range of patient-related innovations in healthcare, health policies, and on the healthcare market will be presented. More information on the preliminary program is available online: www.careum-congress.ch/index_en.php

Department of Health

Unfortunately the Department of Health will be taking a break from contributing to this month's bulletin due to restrictions around publicising Government policies during the election campaign period.

However, they will be back after the election - look out for their entry in our next bulletin.

Health and Self-Management Newsfeed

We have been scouring the press for topical articles in the news on health and self-management. Click on the headlines below and the link will take you directly to the article online. If you ever come across any interesting stories that you think other tutors would like to read then please let us know and we shall add it into the next issue. We can also link up to any video clips or footage that you find.

What's in the news?

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Self-Management Today - May 2010