Workforce & Training

Workforce & Training

The ‘Home Care Today’ project ran from 2013 to June 2017. COTA Australia continues to provide access to Home Care Today resources which were current at June 2017. However they are no longer monitored or updated, and information may not be current.

Workforce

There are significant challenges across the aged and home care sector workforce where existing recruitment and retention issues are highlighted by an expected increase in demand for services as Australians age. Providers are also concerned about the impacts of future reforms where consumers have more choice of providers and how this will impact on their workforce.  Home Care Providers and educators need to think about the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be needed by the workforce to deliver true consumer direction and to compete for consumer loyalty in an increasingly marketised environment.

Australian Aged Care Quality Agency (AACQA) – Better Practice Conferences

Anyone with an interest in providing care services to older people and improving their quality of care and quality of life, will benefit from these conferences. To find out more about current Better Practice Conferences visit the AACQA website or register HERE.

MedeHealth

Making sure there are useful and credible resources for our aged care workforce has been important to Home Care Today because it’s important to providers. Our podcasts, modules and webinars have all been a part of a suite of resources.

Home Care Today and MedeHealth are working together on training modules that assist service providers to orientate their staff to Consumer Directed Care. This video is available exclusively for general use through HCT and is aimed at case management and direct care workers with a focus on working in partnership with consumers. Making this video available generally has meant that HCT has provided its expertise in knowledge with the expertise of MedeHealth in training resource development. The video provides an example of the way in which MedeHealth approaches staff development, as well as the system that they have developed in workforce training. The full module is available to service providers with an annual subscription and includes written content, the video and multiple choice assessment questions to ensure staff have a good understanding of the topic. See the VIDEO from the new module (4 min 55 sec).

VISIT their website: MedeHealth

Training

Training Resources for CDC: Online learning module for Directed Care Workers and students of Certificate III Individual Support

August 2016

Part 1 – Intro to CDC covers a basic introduction for direct care workers about Consumer Directed Care. This includes the changes in Community Aged Care, Aged Care Reform, what consumers want and other resources that can be used to understand these changes. Part 1 also has a number of questions to be answered that helps to reinforce the key learnings. Click on the ‘Training Resources for CDC‘ link below to download Part 1.

Part 2 – Training for Direct Care Workers covers the changing work roles currently being experienced with a focus on direct care workers. This module highlights the six principles of CDC, the benefits of CDC and the importance of the care plan. This is displayed through available resources and a case study. Ten different learning activities and questions are used to assist users to further understand how the principles can be applied to the case study and real work settings. Click on the ‘Training Resources for CDC‘ link below to download Part 2.

Access to the online learning modules, their content and questions is free and can be used by any provider organisation and or training provider. This version does not provide a Certificate of Completion.

DOWNLOAD training resources: Training Resources for CDC 

Testimonial

“The CDC resources created by COTA are a fantastic way to explain and test understandings of Consumer Directed Care and the impacts for the aged care sector. They have been developed by the peak industry body and tested with TAFE NSW in relation to applicability to the training package content. These resources are useful for teachers and students alike and the scoring and testing is an excellent idea. TAFE NSW would like to thank COTA for the opportunity to be involved in the development stage of this project”

Maya Spannari, TAFE NSW, Industry Liaison Manager Community Services and Health

Workforce Educators Project

February 2016

Home Care Today has been working with educators who deliver accredited training to the home care workforce to design a resource that will assist them to understand the current aged care reforms and Consumer Directed Care (CDC) in particular. The document below outlines the key knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by direct care workers and case managers/advisers to support consumer direction. It also maps these to the new accredited training packages for Individual Support and Ageing Support that were endorsed in August 2015. The document will also be useful for Home Care Providers as a basis for developing position descriptions, staff development plans or training needs analysis.

DOWNLOAD our resource: CDC Knowledge Skills and Attitudes

Ideas That Work – Australian produced training videos for home care and training providers

Ideas That Work produces Australian competency-based training videos for workers supporting people in their homes. The videos are available for streaming online as well as DVDs. The majority of these videos incorporate some aspects of the consumer directed care (CDC) principles. The videos can be used to support Home Care Package providers implement CDC across their organisations and educators who deliver accredited training to the home care workforce.

You can find out more about how streaming video works plus watch short previews of all the videos on the Ideas That Work website.

VISIT their website: Ideas That Work 

VIEW their FAQs: Ideas That Work – FAQs

SkillsIQ Resources

The SkillsIQ provide tools, resources and support for workforce planning, development for community services and health, and work in partnership with industry on a range of workforce development projects.

VISIT their website: SkillsIQ