E-learning: your questions answered

There are many benefits of e-learning. It can be completed at a time, place and pace that suits each individual learner, and is cost effective when compared with traditional face-to-face training. 

All managers want the assurance that their staff are receiving the highest standard of training. The rest of this post will aim to answer the key questions you should be asking, and how we at Embrace-learning aim to fulfill them.

1. What is the quality of the learning within the package?

Poor quality courses will not meet the needs of the learner, or of the organisation. Embrace-learning’s courses are developed by a collaborative team of educationalists, designers and software developers to ensure that the content is of the highest accuracy and quality.

Many organisations are determined to save on costs and find the lowest price available to ‘tick the box’ on their staff training but the real risk here is that the quality will suffer greatly, and staff won’t be fully competent.

Our course content engages the learner with constant questions and examples throughout. You cannot proceed to the next page before answering questions and not only do they teach learners what they need to know, but how to implement the key learning concepts in real life.

2. How do they keep their courses up-to-date with legislation and current ways of working in the subject area?

With the ever-changing legislation and government guidelines, you want to make sure the courses you purchase aren’t going to become obsolete over the year that you are using them.

Both CQC guidance and Skills for Care advice highlight the responsibility of the service provider and registered manager to continue to improve care standards through a well-trained workforce.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the health and social care regulator for England. Their aim is to ensure better care for everyone in hospital, in a care home and at home. Training is a key component in ensuring standards of service are met and increasingly providers are required to provide evidence that health and social care training is not only being provided but that learners are achieving specific outcomes. Legislative requirements must be adhered to.

Embrace-learning guarantee that by using our courses your staff training will:

• Meet CQC standards of compliance for continuing professional development
• Be available on demand 24/7 365 days a year
• Provide certificates of achievement on successful completion
• Provide reports demonstrating CQC compliance

Regardless of industry or sector, most employees are now required to undertake some form of CPD. As we work predominantly in knowledge and service economies, the updating of skills and knowledge is critical in keeping abreast of industry changes, maintaining professional competence and ensuring that qualifications do not become obsolete.

3. What is their process of development?

Embrace-learning add, change and develop courses to keep in line with current legislation. The quality of our courses remains consistent throughout these changes and all updates are made quickly, ensuring that your staff don’t have to wait for updates before they can complete a course.

Any developments take effect immediately, learners can log in as usual and the course will have been updated accordingly.

4. What platform are they using, how simple is it, how secure is it and what is the downtime?

Since staff have a range of levels of computer literacy, a complicated platform will confuse learners before they even get to the training course, discouraging them from using the provider in the future.

Embrace-learning’s platform is simple to navigate. Learners simply log in with their unique username and password, and can instantly see the list of courses they need to complete, and how far along in each course they are already.

We always plan to have downtime during weekends or late nights to ensure minimal disruption, unless there is essential action to be taken at another time. We can assure you that all the proper security measures are in place to protect both your staff details and their learning records.

5. How do they communicate with you?

You should always be aware of what your provider is developing and planning over the year.

At Embrace-learning we send out e-newsletters containing relevant information to keep our clients updated. In addition to this, we have 2 networking groups on LinkedIn and are active on all of our social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), as well as regular blogs which are shared across our social media channels.

6. What reporting mechanisms do you have? Is it real-time?

Managers need access to information and reports on their staff, to know what courses have been completed, how long it took and whether or not they have passed. This information can then be used to check staff queries, support learners in appraisals, and contribute to compliance reports, and gives managers the confidence that the staff are well trained and able to perform their job competently.

Embrace-learning offer a Learner Management System (LMS). This is completely free of charge when you license a training course from us. Some features of the LMS:

• Fully hosted by us or secured on your own intranet / extranet
• Fully managed 24/7
• Automated correspondence, evaluation and notifications
• In-built management reporting and data exports
• Administrator training and technical support
• Secure data back-up
• Scalable from 10 to 100,000 learners
• Flash content delivery

As an organisation, you can:

• Track large numbers of learners
• Monitor uptake and completion of training courses
• Get results from online assessments
• Batch upload an unlimited number of learner details
• Batch enrol your learners onto their courses
• Add your own bespoke content to our courses

7. What implementation and helpdesk support can you provide?

 If you are new to e-learning or are switching to a different provider, you may need support and guidance in getting to know the new system.

 Embrace-learning offer helpdesk support Monday-Friday 9am-5pm on the phone. If you have a query outside of office hours you can send an email and it will be answered the next working day. We also offer a live chat service Monday-Friday 9am-5pm on our website for anyone with questions whilst browsing the site.

 Administrators can benefit from training in how to navigate the LMS and direct their learners when asked simple questions like forgotten passwords.

If learners have a query, in the first instance they should contact their administrator. If the issue cannot be resolved the team at Embrace are on hand to give support during office hours.

8. How do they keep up with learning and technology trends?

 Technology is constantly changing and improving and organisations need to keep up with learning and technology trends if they want an edge over the competition.

Embrace-learning has recently launched a new website which has been thoroughly tested for any bugs and has excellent security measures in place. Our training courses are compatible with any web browser and are currently accessible on desktop PCs and laptops as well as some android tablets.

No course is updated without first conducting thorough research in to the trend and understanding how it impacts on the learning experience, and whether or not it benefits the learner.

9. Have they worked with organisations with the same needs as yours?

A good training provider needs to be able to support your needs. The best way of showing they can do this is with examples of similar organisations who have used their e-learning.

Embrace-learning’s current clients include Local Authorities, CCGs, NHS Trusts, GP Practices, Care Homes and Mental Health Trusts across the UK. With our particular focus on Health and Social Care, we have a depth of experience in providing these organisations with tailored e-learning packages to suit their individual needs. Ourwebsite contains a list of just some of our clients should you wish to compare your company’s needs.

10. Can you speak to other customers?

The best way to find out how good a provider really is, is to know about the experience other customers have had with them.

Embrace-learning welcomes feedback from all of our clients and you can find a page containing ‘success stories’ from a number of them on our website.

If you wish to speak directly to an existing client to discuss the training offered by Embrace-learning, we can arrange this for you.

Embrace-learning is a UK leading provider of quality e-learning resources to the Health and Social Care sector. Find out more about us on our website www.embrace-learning.com

You can read more of our blog posts here.

It's Carers Week 2016

What is Carers Week?

Carers Week is a yearly campaign that highlights their challenges and the contribution that they make to families and communities across the UK.

Caring will affect all of us at some stage in life. Statistics show three out of five of us will become carers at some point in life.

The UK currently has 6.5 million people caring unpaid for an ill, frail or disabled family member or friend.

Carers help with everything a person needs, from getting them washed and dressed in the morning and giving them medication, to cooking, shopping and cleaning.

Each year organisations large and small come together and organise activities and events over Carers Week to create as much awareness of caring as possible.

Theme

This year, the focus is on building carer friendly communities. This is communities that support carers to look after their family or friends, whilst recognising that they also have their own needs.

Caring for someone is a part of life, but it can be very stressful, upsetting and tiring. As a community, we need to recognise that carers themselves sometimes also need a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on.

Get involved

You can pledge your support here and help build carer friendly communities.

You can also plan your own activities and spread the awareness of carers week to your friends and family.

Resilience in caring

Caring is so satisfying. It can strengthen and deepen relationships and teach new skills which can help you in life. But, caring can cause you to become ill yourself and feel isolated from the rest of the community alongside financial issues that may arise.

If you are caring for someone, building resilience is key. Not only does it improve your general health and wellbeing, but being happier in yourself means leading a more productive lifestyle.

The Embrace Initiative

At Embrace-learning, we want to help support and train carers in resilience. Our mission is to apply evidence-based principles and techniques to the building of resilient individuals, organisations and communities.

We want people to learn about the importance of resilience, health and wellbeing and help them to build on this for themselves.

If you are caring for someone, you can take our online learning course “About me: Building Resilience for Caring”. The course aims to help learners to identify and find resources, technologies and sources of support in order to prevent their caring responsibilities from becoming overwhelming. It includes tips on staying healthy, managing time and acknowledging and accepting your feelings as a carer.

Embrace-learning is a UK leading provider of quality e-learning resources to the Health and Social Care sector. Find out more about us on our website www.embrace-learning.com

You can read more of our blog posts here.

Apprenticeships: What’s happening?

What’s happening with Apprenticeships in Health and Social Care?

 In 2014-15, there were 87,000 starts in Adult Social Care Apprenticeships. That's 17% of the approximately half a million starts- the largest proportion of any sector of the economy.

What is an Apprentice?

An apprenticeship, as described by Skills for Care, is both on-the-job and off-the-job learning and development.

An apprentice works as a normal employee. With help from experienced staff they gain the skill set needed for their role within care. Off-the-job training contributes towards the apprenticeship qualifications. Apprentices are also paid for their work.

Different Levels of Apprenticeships

There are two learning frameworks:

Health and Social Care

Learners follow an adult social care pathway at one of 2 levels:

• Intermediate.
• Advanced.

Care leadership & Management

This is a higher level apprenticeship- equivalent to Year 2 of university.

The higher level, introduced in 2012, is widely undertaken by aspiring managers. It accounted for 43% of higher apprentices in all sectors in 2014-15.

Apprenticeship Reform- Trailblazer

The Department of Business Innovation and Skills, and the Department for Education have been leading the Government in reforming the apprenticeship system. This is known as Trailblazer. The process has been led by employers, with support from Skills for Care.

4 New Job Titles

The employer group- led by Helen Wilcox MBE of Woodford Homecare in the West Midlands, have assessed apprenticeships and decided on 4 generic occupational job titles:

• Adult Care Worker. (Current level 2 intermediate)
• Lead Adult Care Worker. (Level 3 advanced)
• Lead Practitioner in Adult Care. (Now level 4)
• Leader in Adult Care. (Level 5 or higher)

The standards for these titles are on the Government website, but won’t be available to use for another few months, once details are finalised.

End Point Assessment

On top of existing competency based QCF Diplomas, an apprentice must finish with independently administered tests. This requirement is the same for new apprentices across all sectors.

If an apprentice doesn’t already have maths and English qualifications, they will have to acquire them:

• Level 2 apprentices will need level 1 in English and maths.
• Level 3 or above apprentices will need level 2 English and maths.

The Reform Part 1- The One Plus Two Model

The employer is the customer. They have the relationship with the learning provider- so they should have buying power.

The Current System

Learning providers claim money from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). The amount that they receive is determined by the size of the qualifications and the age of the apprentice.

Apprentices aged 19 or over attract 50% or less of payments of the 16-18 year olds. The difference in the cost of delivery is usually made up from employer contributions. These can be in kind rather than in cash.

The New System

Employers will need to pay in cash. But, there will be no age based distinction on the cost. The SFA will set a maximum price for each apprenticeship standard from 1 of 6 caps. The employer will decide on a price with their chosen learning provider under this cap.

Employers will pay one third of the price and the SFA will contribute the remaining two thirds.

The SFA will pay additional incentive payments to the employer if they are small, employing 16-18 year olds and upon completion.

It is also important to note that Employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices under 25 will be abolished.

Part 2- The Levy

The Apprenticeship Levy will apply to all employers from April 2017. Any employer with a payroll over £3million will contribute 0.5% on the amount over the £3million.

The levy should only affect around 2% of employers. It includes private & public bodies, Government departments, Local Authorities and NHS Trusts.

The money raised will be put in a digital online account for that employer. It will be matched with a 10% top-up from the Government. This account will be part of a new digital apprenticeship service. It will combine databases of learning providers, learners looking for apprenticeships and any advertised vacancies.

The levy essentially means that employers will have control over a pool of money to pay for as many apprenticeships as they require.

Government Aims

·         3 million apprenticeship starts between 2015-2020.

·         Public bodies will be required to take on 2.3% of their workforce as apprentices.

·         To persuade employers to take on more apprenticeships.

The Apprenticeship Ambition programme, driven by Skills for Care and supported by the Department of Health contributes 17% of all starts. There is also a high completion rate of 79%.

People who achieve the new Apprenticeship standard will be of a very high quality. They should take great pride in what they have achieved and the occupation they have chosen.

Embrace-learning

At Embrace-learning, we are going to work with both employers and learning providers in the Health and Social Care sector to help deliver Apprenticeships. Our online content will help to both reduce training costs for employers and learning providers, and support apprentices throughout their training.

The better you train your employees, the longer they tend to stay.

This information was gathered from Skills for Care and Care Management Matters magazine.

Embrace-learning is a UK leading provider of quality e-learning resources to the Health and Social Care sector. Find out more about us on our website www.embrace-learning.com.

You can read more of our blog posts here.

Diabetes: Action needed this World Health Day

The World Health Organisation was set up on April 7^th 1948. Every year since 1950, its anniversary is celebrated with ‘World Health Day’- the focus this year is on Diabetes.

What is Diabetes?

A lifelong condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high. Of the two types, around 90% of all adults affected have type 2.

Type 1 is a chronic condition where the pancreas does not produce enough, if any insulin by itself.

Type 2 is usually found in adults and occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin, or doesn’t make enough.

In 1996 there were 1.4 million people living with the condition in the UK, but this is dramatically rising with an estimated figure of 5 million by 2025. Across the globe, there are currently 422 million adults affected- an alarming figure. This increase is why World Health Day is all about raising awareness of Diabetes this year. More than one in 16 people are now living with the condition in the UK.

If left untreated, Diabetes becomes progressively worse.

It is vital that you are diagnosed as early as possible.

Diabetes can lead to heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and even lower limb amputation. A key finding in the global report on diabetes carried out by the World Health Organisation is that the condition was the cause of 1.5million deaths in 2012. Many of these deaths were before the age of 70, and of those with type 2, they are largely preventable through healthy lifestyles.

If you or someone you know wants to understand Diabetes type 1 and type 2, the symptoms, causes and the treatments, we have an online training course ‘Supporting People with Diabetes Mellitus’. This course aims to raise awareness about the condition, help learners to understand the implications, and enable them to provide people with the support and guidance that they need.

Visit our website embrace-learning to see our catalogue of online courses on a wide range of Health and Social care topics or call us on 0161 928 9987 for more information.

If you want to get involved and help raise awareness of Diabetes this World Health Day, visit the World Health Organisation website to see how you can help.

View our other recent blogs here.

National Mental Capacity Action Day 2016

Aiming to increase awareness and highlight good practice of the Mental Capacity Act, the new National Mental Capacity Forum has organised the National MCA Action Day for the 15th March this year.

As an article from Community Care UK states, The Mental Capacity Act is about ‘treating people as human beings worthy of respect and time.’ The forum intends to identify MCA improvement priorities for the coming year, and work towards improving the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act at the frontline.

The Adult Principal Social Workers Network is encouraging practitioners to post comments and photos illustrating unwise decisions they have made, to highlight the importance of respecting the capacitated ‘unwise’ decisions of people receiving support. If you want to get involved, just follow the Mental Capacity Act forum on twitter @MCAatDH and use the twitter hashtags #mca and #unwisedecisionto share what decision you have made that could be considered unwise by other people.

If you want to further yours or your staffs’ knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act, we have an online training course that can help. All of the key aims and principles of this important legislation are covered, including the concepts of capacity and best interests, and the importance of the Code of Practice and how the courts become involved.

On top of this, we have MCA - specialist case studies. This course contains a set of four specialist units and has been developed specifically for practitioners working in these settings:

• Mental Health
• Acute Hospitals
• Community and Primary Care
• Residential Settings

The specialist case studies course comprises twenty different cases and can be used as the basis for staff training, refresher sessions, individual learning and continuous professional development, and as a day-to-day reference for staff. If you are working towards a CPD certificate, the Mental Capacity Act - Specialist Case Studies will award you 4 hours.
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If you are interested in training for the Mental Capacity Act or any other health and social care modules, view our catalogue of 50+ e-learning courses here and get in touch today on 0161 928 9987.

Nutrition and Hydration Week 2016

In 2015, 32 Nations pledged their support to Nutrition and Hydration Week, and the website http://nutritionandhydrationweek.co.uk/ had over 9000 visits from 49 countries.

This year, the awareness week takes place from the 14th-20th March. The mission is to “create a global movement that will reinforce and focus energy, activity and engagement on nutrition and hydration as an important part of quality care, experience and safety improvement in health and social care settings.”

The following 10 key characteristics of ‘good nutrition and hydration care’, taken from the Nutrition and Hydration Week website, are a requirement to meet the Hospital Food Standards SC19, set out in the NHS Contract for hospitals:

1. Screen all patients and service-users to identify malnourishment or risk of malnourishment and ensure actions are progressed and monitored.
2. Together with each patient or service user, create a personal care/support plan enabling them to have choice and control over their own nutritional care and fluid needs.
3. Care providers should include specific guidance on food and beverage services and other nutritional & hydration care in their service delivery and accountability arrangements.
4. People using care services are involved in the planning and monitoring arrangements for food service and drinks provision.
5. Food and drinks should be provided alone or with assistance in an environment conducive to patients being able to consume their food (Protected Mealtimes).
6. All health care professionals and volunteers receive regular raining to ensure they have the skills, qualifications and competencies needed to meet the nutritional and fluid requirements of people using their services.
7. Facilities and services providing nutrition and hydration are designed to be flexible and centred on the needs of the people using them, 24 hours a day, every day.
8. All care providers are to have a nutrition and hydration policy centred on the needs of users, and is performance managed in line with local governance, national standards and regulatory frameworks.
9. Food, drinks and other nutritional care are delivered safely.
10. Care providers should take a multi-disciplinary approach to nutrition and hydrational care, valuing the contribution of all staff, people using the service, carers and volunteers working in partnership.

 Watch this video from the Nutrition and Hydration Week organisers to find out more information on each of these 10 points.

Good nutrition and hydration can help people to recover more quickly from an illness.
This week is a platform to raise awareness and make sure carers know the importance of a patient’s nutrition and hydration- to improve or maintain their wellbeing.

At Embrace-learning, we provide quality e-learning resources to the health and social care sector. Our online training course, “Nutrition, Diet and Health”, will benefit learners with little or no previous knowledge, enabling them to gain an understanding of the importance of providing meals that fulfil the nutritional requirements of the human body. The course covers topics like:

• The Eatwell Plate
• 5-a-day Campaign
• Nutrition during pregnancy, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age
• Nutrition for Vegetarians, Vegans and Ethnic Minority Groups

View our catalogue of 50+ e-learning courses and purchase your online nutrition course at www.embrace-learning.com.  ​

The benefits of e-learning

Get The Care Certificate e-Learning Course- Free

For a limited time only, get unlimited use of
The Care Certificate e-learning course COMPLETELY FREE when you purchase a pay monthly package deal from Embrace-learning.

The Care Certificate, as described by Skills for Care, is an identified set of standards that health and social care workers adhere to in their daily working life. It gives everyone the confidence that workers have the same introductory skills, knowledge and behaviours to provide compassionate, safe and high quality care and support.

As well as being used for staff who are new to the care industry, the Care Certificate can be completed by existing staff to refresh or improve their knowledge.

 To take advantage of huge cost savings, just select the course titles and tell us the number of learners, and we will discuss the best package with you. You also get our Learner Management System free of charge with any package, helping you to track and monitor learner progress, and run management reports.

Unlimited use of the Care Certificate means that over the 12 month period you could buy 50 other course titles and still use the Care Certificate 250 times, so everybody who needs the Care Certificate has the opportunity to complete it, free of charge.

Click here to view our catalogue of 50+ courses.

You can be assured of the highest standard of training with our CQC compliant, certificated courses.

 E-learning can be integrated in to your current training matrix offering flexibility, improving quality and ultimately reducing your overall training costs.

 View more information on our package deals here.

Contact Embrace-learning 0161 928 9987