Palliative Care Clinical Coach

 

Description:

The Clinical Coach is responsible for working with participating North Simcoe community organizations in alignment with provincial direction established by Ontario Health and guidance developed by the Ontario Palliative Care Network. The Clinical Coach will drive practice change, with a focus on improving access to and quality of clinical care, aligned to the Palliative Care Health Services Delivery Framework in the Community ("The Delivery Framework") and the Ontario Palliative Care Competency Framework.

The Clinical Coach will:

· Provide palliative care coaching and mentoring to staff and clinicians in participating community organizations, to build primary-level palliative care competencies.

· Collaborate with North Simcoe Ontario Health Team (OHT) and leaders of community organizations on local service integration, and change management initiatives, using quality improvement methodologies to achieve results.

· Consult on clinical care when the complexity of the patients’ needs is beyond the existing competencies

of providers (in the community organizations).

· Provide support to local Indigenous communities and Indigenous organizations for their implementation efforts, where Indigenous communities wish to be involved, in collaboration with regional partners.

 

Key Responsibilities

 

A. Co-create the regional Delivery Framework implementation plan with Ontario Health and North Simcoe OHT, including required measurement and reporting.

· Attend all local and regional planning meetings and contribute to local and regional palliative care implementation plan, especially plans for education and practice change.

· Keep comprehensive records and support data collection for measurement and reporting.

· Provide feedback on key learnings related to coach role, along with providing input and reviewing progress reports as required.

B. Foster regional collaboration and contribute to broader system integration.

· Develop an understanding of existing palliative care services in the North Simcoe and surrounding area.

· Develop relationships with key partners to establish trust, credibility, and respect.

· Clearly articulate key messages that resonate across different partner groups and audiences.

· Update the North Simcoe OHT and the regional implementation team on challenges and opportunities in the community.

· Support Ontario Health Team planning and/or implementation of palliative models of care (where there is readiness).

C. Ensure alignment of community implementation with the guidance of the Ontario Palliative Care Network

· Participate in relevant provincial level committees, working groups and task forces.

· Support the regional advisory groups and subject matter experts who provide clinical leadership.

D. Lead engagement and community-building activities with participating organizations.

· Develop and present materials that express palliative care concepts and implementation plans effectively.

E. Provide support to Indigenous communities and organizations for their implementation efforts, as requested by those organizations and, where appropriate, in collaboration with regional partners

F. Critically evaluate the quality of palliative care in participating community organizations.

· Collaborate with leadership teams from participating community organizations to identify strengths and gaps in the palliative care they currently provide and in the relevant provider policies and practice documents.

· Guide the creation of a quality improvement plan to address gaps.

G. Build competency amongst front-line community providers in the delivery of primary-level palliative care.

· Promote/provide palliative care education in participating community organizations, aligned to the Ontario Palliative Care Competency Framework.

· Provide informal, case-based educational opportunities (coaching) for health service providers in community organizations, incorporating principles of adult learning.

· Provide palliative care mentoring for health service providers in the community.

· Complement the work of educational organizations, such as Ontario CLRI and Pallium Canada.

H. Guide palliative care quality improvement (QI) and practice change initiatives in participating community organizations.

· Assist with quality improvement initiatives to implement the Delivery Framework (with an initial emphasis on the prioritized recommendations) by:

° Encouraging the application of QI to improve patient care.

° Building internal and external relationships, to enhance communication among all staff.

° Tracking and evaluating progress.

° Sustaining best practice by updating policies and procedures.

· Works closely with local partners, including equity deserving populations, to ensure implementation of the model addresses barriers to access to care for priority populations

I. Consult on clinical care

· Offer consultation as a palliative care expert to service providers in person, onsite, by telephone, by videoconference or through email.

· Provide limited and occasional direct patient care

 

Qualifications

Education and Experience

· A degree in a registered health care discipline (e.g., RN, RSW, NP) with substantive experience and training in palliative care (e.g., CAPCE). A graduate degree is an asset (e.g., MScN, MSW).

· Minimum three (3) years’ experience in practice in palliative care is required.

· Knowledge of relevant legislation and reporting requirements, including the Fixing Long-Term Care Homes Act, the Excellent Care for All Act and the Compassionate Care Act and other pertinent legislation and regulations related to professional practice is required.

· Experience coaching and/or supervising clinical staff is preferred.

· Experience working with large-scale quality improvement initiatives.

· Additional training in gerontology and project management experience are assets.

· Strong clinical coaching and debriefing skills, with both individuals and teams.

· Strong consultation skills, with expert knowledge of models of consultation and their application with individual, team and community service providers.

· Research and/or program evaluation experience with knowledge of evidence-based processes, including appraisal of research, application of findings and collaboration on research.

· Experience working with a range of roles, disciplines, and levels of staff in different health care settings.

· Experience working across health care settings.

· Fluency in French and/or another language is an asset.