THE LATEST NEWS FOR AGED-CARE PROFESSIONALS
workforce
What did that analysis reveal? What were some of the shortfalls you uncovered and why do they exist? It was an intriguing thing for me to learn that in residential aged-care facilities, personal care workers make up the bulk of the workforce and their qualification for entering was often a Certificate III or a Certificate IV in aged care provided by a registered training organisation. However, what I found from talking with the managers and personal care workforce I was able to go in and work with in two facilities, was that there are great disparities between the skill levels or attributes of people who come out of different registered training organisations [ with the same qualification ]. For example, one organisation has a curriculum for a Certificate IV in aged care, a second organisation might have a program titled the same, but the curriculum will be different. Therefore, when the personal care workers come out of their fundamental qualification, they sometimes have had different learning experiences.
You’ ve developed a formal education program for personal care workers. In what ways do you hope the course will address the issues you identified in the study? I decided to first ask all the leadership and management teams of the residential aged-care facilities what they felt the continuing educational needs of the personal care workforce were. Then I asked the personal carers what they felt their education needs were. I collected a matrix of topics. I then asked the personal carers to identify which topics were most valuable to them, [ based on ] the role that they held and what would work best for them.
From that, we were able to develop a program that could be delivered over 12 months, which encompasses a number of topics derived directly from the ongoing needs the personal care workers have identified. Some of those needs are derived from the fact that they have differences in their fundamental education.
The program, I believe, is unique in that it is derived from the participants and meets the participants’ ongoing and changing needs.
What are some of the key skills participants will learn? What aspects of care does the program home in on? The types of information they asked to have included in the program were things like communication skills; they wanted to learn how to deliver bad news to people. Another high priority for them was dealing with aggressive behaviour from residents who might have issues such as dementia. They talked about time-management skills. They were also particularly interested in learning more about chronic conditions and resident-specific conditions, so they could hone their skills and knowledge to enhance the experience of the resident.
The program topics are quite broad and cover aspects of residents’ conditions, aspects of communication and clinical practice skills. Not only did some of them feel like they didn’ t get enough of that in their fundamental education program, but also they needed to brush up on these skills to make sure they could provide good care to residents.
When might the program be available? What hopes do you have for it in terms of sector engagement? The outcome of the study was the initiation of the program, or the initial development of the program. My hope now is that I will be able to gather some more interest from a funding organisation to be able to network with local providers, such as these registered training organisations, as well as the university. Also, here in Hervey Bay, we have a group of health professionals who have put together a professional development program. We draw from the expertise of the community, to present on that program.
Now, it’ s about trying to consolidate and engage the various services or organisations within this community who might be able to contribute to the program, then deliver it in a way that meets personal care workers’ needs. The modes of delivery that the personal care workers talked to me about were face to face, short in service, onsite education. That’ s the next phase of the project. ■
THE LATEST NEWS FOR AGED-CARE PROFESSIONALS
For the last 15 years, Aged Care Insite has remained the respected industry journal aimed squarely at the growing number of Australians working in the burgeoning agedcare industry.
At Aged Care Insite we pride ourselves on being at the forefront of the ever changing care sector. We provide an independent source of news, and cover the issues relevant to you.
• Latest updates in technology and research
• Community stories from facilities just like yours
• Comprehensive coverage of a diverse range of topics
• Weekly news update emails
• Tax deductible
• Free online access and also delivered bi-monthly directly to your door
Please call 02 9936 8666 to find out more.
agedcareinsite. com. au 29