Barbara’s Story Eileen Sills, CBE Chief Nurse & Director of Patient Experience January 2014

How do you successfully get 13,200 staff to think differently about caring for older people and those with dementia? You certainly don't do it in the traditional way You 'pull on the heart strings' of the organisation You tell it from the voice of a patient But you can’t put one patient in front of 13,200 staff…

You create a film, so simple but so powerful - you create a drama Images – Sarah Bickford

September 2012 we launched the film and we made it mandatory for all to attend Only a small number of staff ran the sessions to ensure consistency The film is a short 10 minute film followed by a 45 minute session pulling the film apart and getting staff to think about there own behaviours and the impact it can have To date we have trained 13,000 staff plus many more staff externally

The initial impact Due to its simplicity many found themselves becoming very emotional The whole organisation just began to talk about Barbara's Story Everybody wanted to be part of it, we didn't have to chase staff to attend We identified staff who needed help in their personal lives

Evaluation Formal evaluation led by London South Bank University 1240 staff sent written comments & 67 staff participated in 10 focus groups 6 themes emerged from the written comments –Personal reflections on the film –What I will do in my personal life –What I will do in my professional life –What the organisation should do (general comments and training) –What others should do –Other comments Most comments related to what staff would do in their professional lives

Findings Raised awareness of the needs of older people and those with a dementia Evidence of staff doing things differently Prompted staff to think more broadly rather then just in their own silo Evidence of a culture change, making the Trust values real Evidence that staff felt more able to give more time and supported to give more time Specific examples of how to do things differently and suggestions for the future

Next steps First episode funded by the Burdett Trust into a training package free to anyone who wants it Training packages so far have been sent to; Australia Canada Denmark Japan Germany Sweden USA

Six more episodes filmed, tracking her journey as her health changes

After 33 years in the NHS I feel I have done something worthwhile that will have a lasting impact Thank you!