Here is a comprehensive list of the education events and opportunities that will support your continuous professional development - from webinars to conferences.
Click on a drop down to get more information about a particular event and as well as how to book or take part.
Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any queries about our education offering for health and social care professionals.
Webinars
Pain Management for MND - 28 November 2023
Time: 11.00am – 12.30pm
Aim: To increase understanding of how pain may be experienced in MND and potential methods to treat it.
Objectives:
- to examine current practice for pain management in MND
- to evolve our understanding of pain in MND and how to alleviate it
- to explore current thinking and research about pain management and possible future developments.
By the end of the session participants will have:
- a more confident understanding of where and why pain occurs in MND
- been introduced to options for effective pain management
- an appreciation of emerging research and developments pain management for MND.
Speaker: Dr Rhys Roberts, Consultant Neurologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital – Cambridge
The MiND B project – identifying and managing behavioural change in MND: from the MiND-B to the MiNDToolkit – 30 January 2024
Time: 11.00am – 12.30pm
Aim: To introduce and explain i) the MiND-B, a tool to detect behavioural symptoms in MND, and ii) the MiNDToolkit, a novel online psychoeducational intervention to manage behavioural symptoms - and their application to practice.
Objectives:
- to increase awareness and understanding of the MiND-B assessment and its objectives
- to increase awareness and understanding of the MiNDToolkit intervention and its objectives
- to demonstrate how the use of an assessment (MiND-B) can lead to tailored support to carers (MiNDToolkit).
By the end of the session participants will:
- have an understanding of the MiND-B its role in clinical practice
- know how to administer and interpret MiND-B scores
- have an understanding of the future role of the MiNDToolkit in practice
- have considered how they might use their knowledge of behavioural changes, and tools such as the MiND-B, in their practice.
Speaker: Professor Eneida Mioshi, University of East Anglia
Anticipatory grief – the challenges presented by a progressive condition for people living with and affected by MND – 27 February 2024
Time: 11.00am – 12.30pm
Aim: To consider the nature and possible presentation of anticipatory grief in people affected by MND, and ways to support them.
Objective: To support HSCPs to recognise and respond effectively to presentations of anticipatory grief.
By the end of the session participants will have:
- a clearer understanding of what we mean by ‘anticipatory grief’
- a more confidence to identify when people are experiencing anticipatory grief
- an improved understanding of potential ways to support people affected by MND who are experiencing anticipatory grief.
Speaker: Carol Bradley, Advanced Clinical Practitioner and MND Care Coordinator
“If it affects one of us, it affects us all”: the Whole Family approach, effective support for a household living with a diagnosis of MND – 30 April 2024
Time: 11.00am – 12.30pm
Aim: To explore the Whole Family Approach when caring for people affected by MND.
Objectives:
- to introduce the Whole Family concept
- to explore the impact of the Whole family approach to people affected by MND
- to provide real world examples of the Whole Family approach in action
- to consider how the MDT can work together to deliver care using the Whole Family approach.
By the end of the session participants will have:
- an understanding of the Whole Family model
- an understanding of the impact the of the Whole Family model on patient and carer experience
- an appreciation of how the MDT can collaborate to deliver a Whole Family approach.
Speaker: Samantha Holden, MND Care Centre Co-ordinator
“You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life” – dispelling the myths of hospice care (for people living with and affected by MND) – 16 July 2024
Time: 11.00am – 12.30pm
Aim: To develop increased understanding of the role of hospice care for people living with and affected by MND.
Objectives:
- to explore of the range of services available through hospice care
- to explore the role of hospice services in good patient centred care
- to develop understanding of how people living with and affected by MND can be supported to positively consider using hospice services
- to explain how to connect people living with and affected by MND with hospice services
- to explore how hospice care supports the MDT.
By the end of the session participants will have:
- an awareness of the types of care which may be provided by a hospice
- an understanding of how hospice services can be used to meet patient centred goals
- increased confidence to talk to people living with and affected by MND about hospice care – challenging the perception that it is a place to go to die
- an understanding of how to refer people living with and affected by MND to hospice services
- an appreciation of how the hospice fits with the wider MDT.
Speakers: Claire Stockdale, Palliative Medicine Consultant and Lisa Sievwright, MND and Neuropalliative Specialist Therapist
A focus on tube feeding in MND: current evidence, managing risks and exploring good practice – 26 November 2024
Time: 11.00am – 12.30pm
Aim: To develop increased understanding about the use of tube feeding for people with MND and the implications for provision of person-centred care.
Objectives:
- to develop understanding of how people with MND can be supported to make informed, patient centred decisions about gastrostomy placement
- to examine the role of tube feeding in the management of MND and its impact on people living with MND and their caregivers
- to develop an understanding of the enteral feeding methods and tube care
- to consider how the MDT can work together to improve outcomes and patient experience.
By the end of the session participants will have:
- an awareness of how to support people with MND with decision making regarding tube feeding
- an understanding of the role enteral feeding plays in the nutrition support of people with MND
- an understanding of the different feeding methods available and how these can be used to meet patient centred goals
- an appreciation of how the MDT can collaborate to ensure good patient outcomes from the use of tube feeding.
Speaker: Sean White, NIHR Clinical Doctoral research doctoral fellow, Shefield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Information and Knowledge Exchanges
Information and Knowledge Exchange events are exclusively for members of the MND Professionals' Community of Practice, a peer led group of health and social care professionals encouraging and supporting the development of good care for people living with, or affected by, MND.
Information and Knowledge Exchange - 26 March 2024
Time: 11am-1.30pm
Through thick and thin - Managing saliva
Swallowing and secretion management are topics constantly under discussion within our community. It can be a particularly distressing symptom for people living with MND, affecting them both physically and emotionally. You told us you wanted to know more about how best to tackle this issue for the people in your care. This information and knowledge exchange will explore this important area.
1: Secretion management in MND
Shauna Sheridan, Specialist Respiratory Physiotherapist from the Royal Brompton Hospital will provide an overview of the key considerations for Secretion Management in MND.
2: What is the presenting issue - drooling or tenacious saliva?
This Saliva Management Pathway will help you navigate the steps which may be taken with the people in your care. Caroline Bidder, Network Lead Care Coordinator at South Wales MND Care Network, will share this useful and straight forward document from the Swansea Bay team with you.
3: Choking Pathway
Knowing how to take informed action when a patient is choking or experiencing sensations of choking is vital when such episodes occur.
Dorinda Moffatt, Specialist Neuro-Respiratory Physiotherapist/Frailty Therapist, Prospect Hospice will use this session to share the practical and successful Choking pathway she has developed for use in her area with you.
Information and Knowledge Exchange - 25 June 2024
Time: 11am-1.30pm
Managing High Tone
Many people living with MND experience painful spasms and cramps. You told us you wanted more information about treatment of these symptoms. From medication to positioning, often the solution lies in a combination of solutions and an MDT approach. This information and knowledge exchange will explore the different possible interventions which may help the people in your care to be more comfortable.
1: Effective medication for cramps and spasms
The NICE guideline for MND sets out the various medications recommended for use with people living with MND for there symptoms. In this session Vivien Horton, Advanced Clinical Pharmacist – Neurosciences, James Cook Hospital will explain what these drugs do, when they might be contraindicated and how prescribers settle on the most effective.
2: How can physiotherapy help with increased muscle tone in people with MND?
Hypertonia (increased muscle tone or stiffness) can affect some people with MND and result in difficulty with movement, positioning, functional activities and pain. In this session Kelly Smith, Advanced Physiotherapist at the Newcastle MND Care Centre, will explore and explain how physiotherapists, can help people living with MND to manage this symptom.
3: Get the position right!
As people with MND become less able to change their own position, their joints and muscles can become uncomfortable. Jenny Rolfe, Occupational Therapist, will talk through effective postural management including static seating, wheelchair seating and bed positioning and how these can be utilised to manage physical symptoms such as cramps and spasms. There will be some useful and simple solutions which you can use for the people in your care.
Information and Knowledge Exchange - 24 September 2024
Time: 11am-1.30pm
Coping with complexity
MND is a complex condition which can present practitioners with real challenge. You told us you wanted to hear about specific patient cases and explore how others have tackled some of the more difficult issues and subjects which can arise. This information and knowledge exchange will give you an opportunity to hear others candidly share examples of demanding cases they have managed.
1: Providing best care whilst respecting family dynamics and cultural considerations
Family dynamics and the person and their family’s cultural beliefs can impact on the interaction you have during visits or interventions. In cases where an interpreter is required this adds an additional complexity to communication. Anthony Hanratty, MND Advanced Nurse Specialist at Middlesbrough MND Care Centre, will use a case from his area to explore the importance of understanding the motivations, expectations and such specific needs of the person living with MND and their family and carers in the provision of effective care.
2: I can’t get my patient home: dealing with issues when discharging people from hospital
In this session Rachael Marsden, MND Nurse Consultant and the Care Centre Coordinator at Oxford MND Care Centre, will reflect on a case in which the patient discharge from hospital was complicated by systemic health care issues and share, how in this instance her team, overcame the problem.
3: Providing care when significant cognitive change is involved
Cognitive change can present a challenge for care on a number of levels: from patient acceptance of interventions through to implications for establishing mental capacity. Phillippa Sharpe, Specialist Occupational Therapist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, will explore an example in which issues of this nature arose and the various considerations and actions that they and their team took to provide appropriate care.
Workshops
A workshop is a brief, intensive educational program focussing on techniques and skills delivered to a relatively small group of people. Workshops are usually delivered face to face, but with careful planning could be online. The features of a workshop are that they:
- pass on knowledge and instruction around a specific skill set
- provide significant real time opportunities for participants to practice the skills being taught
- wherever possible will have some form of formal accreditation for the skills being passed on.
We use our MND Association workshops support when a key skill deficit has been identified and it is appropriate for the Association to make a response. The aim, as with all of our education provision, is to supplement existing health and social care training with MND-specific content to enhance professionals’ understanding of the disease and how to provide the best possible support. In a workshop this enhancement is very practical with clear links to practice.
Details of upcoming workshops will be added soon.
Masterclasses
These live events cover key areas of good MND care in detail, and provide you with a significant opportunity to learn from and interact with subject specialists. Some of these one day events take place face-to-face, and others are virtual.
Numbers for the masterclasses are limited to ensure that participants receive the depth opportunity expected in a learning opportunity of this type. People have found them interesting and challenging.
On completion of a masterclass you will receive a certificate of participation for your CPD record.
The subjects offered are chosen based on the feedback we receive through an annual survey of health and social care professionals we distribute through our Education newsletter and on information we get from our partner professional organisations.
Details of our 2024 masterclasses coming soon.
A conversation with...
The ‘Conversations with...’ series will give you an opportunity to listen to subject matter experts being interviewed on Zoom, using questions submitted by you. They focus on subjects of expressed interest from the professional community, or topical issues, and are run as conversation between a host and subject specialist.
The aim, as with all of our education provision, is to supplement existing health and social care training with MND-specific content to enhance professionals’ understanding of the disease and how to provide the best possible support. In a Conversation with this enhancement is to have specific questions to help develop or clarify practice answered.
Details of upcoming sessions will be added soon.
Community of Practice Annual Network Event
These events are exclusively for members of the MND Professionals' Community of Practice, a peer led group of health and social care professionals encouraging and supporting the development of good care for people living with, or affected by, MND.
