Info for Professionals/ services overview
Find out more about the support services offered by Acorns and how we work with other healthcare professionals.
Support for family members
Every family is allocated a named worker to act as a key contact point. Community support workers are able to visit families in the home providing psychosocial support through the ups and down of their child’s illness and the challenges of family life. They are also able to offer support before during and after the death of a child. This includes practical support with registering the death and planning a funeral through to bereavement support including support at the difficult times of anniversaries birthdays and future pregnancies.
Family members and carers are also able to access a number of support groups including mothers and mens groups, grandparents groups and support and activities for siblings.
Support for young people
Adolescents are supported through their teenage years with bespoke activities, peer bookings and opportunities to discuss their fears and achievements with experienced staff that have the time to listen. This may range from concerns over spots and girlfriends to realisation of a life limiting diagnosis. Focus groups led by Acorns Adolescent Lead empower young people to make choices about their care and future options as well as shaping the direction of Acorns services. A manager with special responsibility for transition acts a resource to enable community workers to work with families to consider the options and plan for care and support beyond 18.
Partnership working
Acorns is committed to working in partnership with colleagues across statutory and third sector organisations to ensure that the needs of children young people and their families are met. This involves direct working on an operational level in addition to the planning and development of services from a strategic perspective e.g.; securing contracts through the Aiming High initiative to develop and or enhance short breaks for children requiring palliative acre services.
Client specific meetings
Whenever possible Acorns staff will support client focussed meetings such as care reviews, team around the child meetings, discharge planning etc through attendance and or reports.
Training and consultancy initiatives
Acorns staff have a wide range of skills and experience and are very willing to support local initiatives and meetings whenever possible through either personal attendance or to provide reports or information Staff can also occasionally act as a “guest speaker” to talk about Acorns services or broader palliative care issues.
Information Days for Professionals
Each of the three hospices provides open days for professionals offering the opportunity to have a tour of the hospices, meet Acorns multi-disciplinary teams and discuss changing regional needs and services across palliative care.