Practice Makes Perfect

A comprehensive workshop program for CHSP providers.

Glen Sorenson will facilitate eight, one–hour interactive webinars across eight weeks, covering:

• Practice Essentials
• Engaging Clients in their Aged Care Journey
• Client-set Goals
• Gathering Strong Evidence on the Client Experience
• Managing Client Expectations & Having Challenging Conversations
• Managing Risk within a Wellness Approach
• Building Short–term Reablement Capacity Across
• Implementing the Aged Care Diversity Framework

Content Area 1 – Practice Building Blocks

Topic 1, Week 1:  Practice Essentials
This topic explores the current policy directions in home support and home care for older people.  It identifies the theoretical underpinnings of current aged care practice.  What are: person–centredness, wellbeing, strength-based approaches, wellness, short–term reablement, client–directed care, co–design and goal orientated support, and how do these translate into community care practice?

Topic 2, Week 2:  Engaging Clients in their Aged Care Journey
The new practice sees clients as equal and active partners in the design and delivery of home support and home care.  But how do we bring clients, their carers and families on board?  This topic outlines some practical techniques in engaging individuals and groups, providing information and education and encouraging them to stay as active, independent and engaged as they can be.

Content Area 2 – Making a Difference Though Good Practice

Topic 3, Week 3:  Getting to Client-set Goals
This topic shows how information gathered in referral, intake and assessment processes can be used in combination with basic motivational interviewing techniques to co-design client-set goals aimed at improving function and wellbeing and maximising independence.  It also builds skills in how to frame goals in support plans so that they are focused on what the client wants to achieve or be different rather than just the tasks involved in getting there.

Topic 4, Week 4:  Gathering Strong Evidence on the Client Experience
How do you know if you are hitting the mark if you don’t get useful and strong feedback from your clients?  Quality reviews seek input from clients on their experiences against the Aged Care Quality Standards.  This feedback should provide input into continuous quality improvement.  Effective support strategies should make a difference to a client’s function or wellbeing.  This, in turn, builds in wellness reporting.  This topic covers some simple strategies and tools providers can use to get meaningful information on the difference they are making to clients’ lives.

Content Area 3 – Dealing Effectively with Practice Challenges

Topic 5, Week 5:  Managing Client Expectations and Having Challenging Conversations
What happens when there is a mismatch between what the client and/or their representatives want or expect from a service and what the program can offer?  How can you best handle challenging conversations and remain respectful?  This topic will give practical hints at establishing co-operative relationships, managing conversations about fees, when requests are outside the guidelines and when there are differing opinions on support options.

Topic 6, Week 6:  Managing Risk within a Wellness Approach
Implementing the wellness and reablement approach comes with its inherent challenges.  Sometimes clients will choose support options that introduce a level of risk to client safety.  How can we balance our duty of care obligations with a client’s dignity of risk rights?  This topic explores the concepts of and interplay between duty of care, dignity of risk and capacity, and  identifies practical problem-solving strategies providers can use to effectively address these challenges and effectively manage the associated risks.

Client Area 4:  New Directions in Practice

Topic 7, Week 7:  Building Short–term Reablement Capacity Across the System
Government is increasing focus on time–limited reablement practice.  It was the major focus of the recent CHSP Wellness Report and of a national pilot, building reablement skills in Regional Assessment Services.  This topic explores how to develop short-term reablement capacity both within CHSP services and across the service system.  Drawing on the lessons from two trials with CHSP-funded services, this topic identifies practical ways CHSP services and RAS teams can collaborate in strengthening reablement practice across the region.  It is a valuable topic for CHSP providers, RAS and ACAT assessors.

Topic 8, Week 8:  Implementing the Aged Care Diversity Framework
In late 2017, the Commonwealth Government released the Aged Care Diversity Framework as a key initiative in ensuring all older people, including those from 12 identified diverse needs groups, have equitable access to an aged care system that is responsive to diversity.  Since then, four action plans containing suggested implementation actions for aged care providers have been produced.  This topic unpacks the Framework’s elements, identifying the links to the Aged Care Quality Standards and explores how providers can implement the framework within their agencies.

Delivery – Glen will:
•             disseminate background reading packages each week
•             set up link and facilitate 8 x one–hour learning sessions
•             provide one–on–one mentoring sessions as required
•             distribute evaluation.