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Palliative care and care around dying
This Open Badge is awarded to people who demonstrate their understanding of the Palliative Care Matters for All strategy and their role in delivering palliative care and care around dying.
What part do you play in helping someone live as well as possible with a life shortening condition? When that person is dying, how do you support the people close to them? Palliative care and care around dying reach far beyond specialist services. Much of it is part of the everyday work of social care staff like you.
This badge recognises your understanding of how the Palliative Care Matters for All strategy 2025-30 helps you identify and recognise your role in delivering services that focus on working with people who receive palliative care and care around dying.
Palliative care and care around dying is a sensitive and often difficult part of working in social services. Scotland has a compassionate and committed health and social service workforce and the Palliative Care Matters for All strategy seeks to build on the considerable capacity and expertise that already exists.
Completing this badge will help you:
- explain what palliative care and care around dying mean and why they matter across social services
- identify your own role in delivering palliative care and care around dying for the people you support, their families and carers
- apply the strategy’s person-centred approach to your day-to-day practice
- plan how you will help colleagues and your local community understand palliative care and care around dying.
You can earn this badge by reading the strategy and showing, in your own words, how you will use it in your work.
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You must not use any generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to plan, write or improve your evidence for this badge.
To earn this badge you will need to:
- download and read the Palliative Care Matters for All strategy 2025-30 on the Scottish Government website
- explain what the Palliative Care Matters for All strategy sets out and describe why palliative care and care around dying matter to your role and to the people you support (100-200 words)
- describe how you will apply the strategy in your work, giving examples of what you will do differently when supporting people with life shortening conditions and their families and carers (100-200 words)
- reflect on the difference you expect the strategy to make to your practice and explain how you will record and evidence that difference, now and in the future (100-200 words)
- identify at least one thing you will do to help colleagues, the people you support or your local community become more aware of palliative care and care around dying, and explain why this matters (100-200 words).
There is a maximum word count for this badge of 800 words.
Your application will be returned to you with a request for further evidence if it does not meet all the above criteria or it is unclear which of these questions you are answering within your evidence.
There are no prerequisites for this badge.
You will need to submit a written statement of at least 400 but no more than 800 words in response to the questions asked in the criteria. You can write your statement directly on the badge application form or paste a link to your own blog or portfolio.
Remember to always write in the first person, using words like “I,” “me” and “my” when talking about your learning and practice.
When preparing your evidence, consider the following guidance for each question:
The strategy and why it matters (100-200 words)
- Set out, in your own words, what the strategy is trying to achieve.
- Explain what palliative care and care around dying mean and how they differ.
- Connect this to the people you support in your own role and setting.
Applying the strategy in your work (100-200 words)
- Focus on your own actions and what you will do differently, not on what the strategy says.
- Keep any examples general, without naming or describing anyone you support.
- Say how you will support families and carers, not only the person receiving care.
Difference to your practice (100-200 words)
- Be specific about the change you expect to see.
- Describe how you will notice or measure that difference over time.
- Consider both immediate changes and longer-term impact.
Raising awareness with others (100-200 words)
- Name one clear, realistic action you will take.
- Say who it is aimed at (colleagues, people you support, your community).
- Explain why raising awareness matters for palliative care and care around dying.
We will also accept an audio or video submission if you prefer.
The evidence you submit will be viewable by anyone you show your badge to. Write about your own practice in general terms only. Do not name or describe any specific person you support, their family or carers, your colleagues or any particular case or situation. Do not include any other confidential, private or identifying information within your submission.
Badge issuer
Scottish Social Services Council
Our work means the people of Scotland can count on social work, social care and children and young people services being provided by a trusted, skilled, confident and valued workforce.
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Terms and conditions
1. I have read, understood and completed all activities listed in the badge criteria. The evidence I have provided answers each question from the criteria.
2. I confirm that the evidence I have submitted is free from personally identifiable information of others. Nobody can be identified, directly or indirectly, from any examples I provide.
3. I confirm that I have not used generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to plan or write any of the evidence I have provided. This is my own original work and I have not copied it from anywhere or anyone else. I understand that all AI assistance is banned under the rules for Open Badge applications.
4. I give consent for the SSSC and the people I share this badge with to use plagiarism and AI detection tools to validate the authenticity of the evidence I have submitted.
5. I understand that it may take up to 28 days to assess my application and that feedback cannot always be provided if it is unsuccessful.
Your evidence, name, and email address will be sent to the organisation who issue this badge