Extension for Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) is a collaborative model of education developed by The University of New Mexico and is now used worldwide and by over 40 hospices in the UK.
We use ECHO to widen access to palliative care knowledge and skills by supporting health and social care professionals who deliver palliative care in settings other than in a hospice.
ECHO's methodology is based in values of inclusion, collaboration and participation.
ECHO Networks create Communities of Practice, where people who are passionate about providing skilled palliative and end of life care meet regularly to learn how to do it better.
At these virtual meetings we share knowledge and support each other in the experience of caring for people and their families in the last stages of their lives.
ECHO Networks create Communities of Practice, where people who are passionate about providing skilled palliative and end of life care meet regularly to learn how to do it better.
At these virtual meetings we share knowledge and support each other in the experience of caring for people and their families in the last stages of their lives.
• Builds relationships and communities of practice
• Learning needs decided by participants
• Practise-based learning from real situations
• Safe space for reflection
• Sharing of knowledge and good practice
• Development of new skills and knowledge
This is a Network that shares specialist palliative care education and support with our district and community nurses in our local region.
We are committed to building strong relationships with our partners in care and learning from each other to extend specialist palliative care to all those who need it in our communities.
Click for timetableOur Arts in Palliative Care ECHO Network is an online network to support Scotland-based arts therapists and arts practitioners working in palliative care.
Find out moreWe recognised a need to support care home staff following the outbreak of Covid-19 and we ran a Care Home Recovery Network in the summer of 2020. We then collaborated with Marie Curie Hospice using ECHO to create a virtual network of care home and hospice staff to discuss, share and learn together about the impact of Covid-19 on themselves and people they care for.
We also used ECHO, in collaboration with NHS Lothian, to deliver training for nurses in nursing homes, caring for people dying with Covid-19 symptoms.
We developed four Care Home ECHO Networks with Edinburgh care homes between August 2018 and March 2020.
Two networks focused on Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) in care homes and were developed in collaboration with the Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership, Long Term Conditions Programme ACP Team.
Collaboration with St. Columba’s Hospice and Project ECHO enabled shared learning, reflective practice and peer support, which would otherwise not have been possible given the demands on care home staff and was a critical factor in the success of the ACP improvement programme.
Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership, Long Term Conditions Programme, ACP Team 2019
Here are some of the materials we've created to tell you a little bit more about our networks and ECHO partners. For more information about ECHO, please contact us by email: echo@stcolumbashospice.org.uk
All participants in ECHO must complete a Registration and Data Sharing Agreement Form – download below. This form will collect your personal data and you will find details about why, where and how your data will be stored securely.
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