Project Echo

Connecting Palliative Care Across Ireland

Project ECHO AIIHPC

The Project ECHO AIIHPC is designed to support primary care staff to improve their knowledge and skills in the care and management of patients with a wide range of palliative healthcare needs.

Project ECHO is a revolutionary guided-practice model that reduces health disparities in under-served and remote areas of the state, nation, and world. Through innovative telementoring, the ECHO model uses a hub-and-spoke knowledge-sharing approach where expert teams lead virtual clinics, amplifying the capacity for providers to deliver best-in-practice care to the underserved in their own communities. Learn more about the global ECHO movement at https://hsc.unm.edu/echo/

The network fosters a spirit of learning from each other in a safe environment. All four phases of Project ECHO AIIHPC were funded by the Health Services Executive.

Project ECHO AIIHPC: Nursing Homes (Phases 1 to 3)

The first project ECHO AIIHPC training programme, was delivered to nursing homes (the spokes) within South Dublin and facilitated by the multidisciplinary palliative care team at Our Lady's Hospice & Care Services (the hub). The second phase, which commenced in February 2018, extended invitations to the remaining homes within Dublin and it was facilitated jointly by the multidisciplinary palliative care teams at St Francis Hospice and Our Lady's Hospice & Care Services. Phase three commenced in May 2019 in collaboration with Milford Care Centre and nursing homes in the mid-west of Ireland.

A full report on the evaluation of the first phase of Project ECHO AIIHPC: Nursing Homes can be viewed here and a peer reviewed paper has also been published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine view here

Phase 3, linked specialist palliative care staff at Milford Care Centre Limerick, with Nursing Homes in the Midwest. Fifteen nursing homes from the Midwest of Ireland commenced phase 3 with 366 staff participating in the programme. An evaluation of phase 3 was completed by researchers in the University of Limerick in Spring 2020. Phase Three aims and objectives were a combination of the aims of phases 1 and 2. View the full evaluation report.

Project ECHO AIIHPC: OT & Physio (Phase 4)

The Project ECHO AIIHPC: OT & Physio programme was developed and delivered with the overall aim of improving access to palliative care for those in the community by offering easily accessible and up-to-date training on principles of palliative care and best practices to occupational therapists and physiotherapists who deliver primary care in communities throughout Ireland. The Hub consisted of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, a dietician and a nurse manager, and was led by Palliative Care National Clinical Therapy Leads and facilitated by an allied health professional with academic, research and clinical experience in palliative care delivery. The ECHO Spokes were occupational therapists and physiotherapists (n=26) who were working in primary care and attended remotely from their workplace. An evaluation of phase 4 was completed by researchers in Trinity College Dublin in Spring 2020. A full report on the evaluation can be viewed here. A peer reviewed paper has also been published in the Journal of Health and Social Care in the community view here and an overview was also published in Volume 8, Issue 4 p71-72 of the National Institute of Health Sciences Research Bulletin https://www.ul.ie/hsa/sites/hsa/files/NIHS%20VOL%208%20Issue%204%202021%20FNL2_0.pdf

Project ECHO AIIHPC COVID-19 Response

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, AIIHPC worked with a range of key collaborators to develop a series of Project ECHO Webinars. These were one hour long and included a presentation by a subject expert for 15 to 20 minutes, followed by a facilitated questions and answers session with a panel of experts from a range of disciplines and organisations. Participants were encouraged to submit burning topic related questions during the registration process for each webinar as well during each session. Emailed and texted feedback to each of the webinars was overwhelmingly positive. 25 webinars were delivered in total with 11372 people attending one of more of the sessions, the videos have been viewed 9688 times [data correct as of 31.7.20]

The Project ECHO AIIHPC: Webinars for nursing homes (13 Sessions) – the majority were delivered in collaboration between AIIHPC and the Age-related Health Care Department of Tallaght University Hospital, with the session on the 8 April in collaboration with Milford Care Centre. Videos and resources are available here 3557 people attended one or more the sessions with the videos being viewed 1851 times [data correct as of 31.7.20]

The Project ECHO AIIHPC: Webinars For Intellectual Disability Services (8 Sessions) – the majority were delivered in collaboration between AIIHPC and Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability, with the webinar on the 29 May was a collaboration between AIIHP and University College Cork, The Cope Foundation and the Office of Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD) in the Health Service Executive (HSE). Videos and resources are available here 6264 people attended one or more the sessions with the videos being viewed 4923 times [data correct as of 31.7.20]

The Project ECHO AIIHPC: Webinars for Mental Health Services (2 Sessions) were delivered in collaboration between AIIHPC and the HSE’s Community Operation Mental Health Services. Videos and resources are available here 318 people attended one or more the sessions with the videos being viewed 249 times [data correct as of 31.7.20]

The Project ECHO AIIHPC: Webinar for Disability Services (1 Session) were delivered in collaboration between AIIHPC and the HSE’s National Quality Improvement Office, Disability Service. The video and resources are available here 372 people attended the session with the video being viewed 285 times [data correct as of 31.7.20]

The Project ECHO AIIHPC: Webinar for Children with complex care needs (1 Sessions) – delivered in collaboration between AIIHPC and Laura Lynn Ireland’s Children Hospice. The video and resources are available here 693 people attended the sessions times with the video being viewed 604 times [data correct as of 31.7.20]

View an infographic summarising the The Project ECHO AIIHPC: Webinar series