Simon Sentance
Kineo Courses, Product Owner at Kineo AU
The Australian aged care industry is on the cusp of major improvements in the way care is delivered following the handing down of the findings from the Aged Care Royal Commission. The final report includes 148 recommendations spanning a broad spectrum of potential improvements. This is in addition to the Aged Care Quality Standards, which came into effect in 2019.
The aged care industry is in flux due to these new requirements, as well as the ongoing effects of an aging population, changing expectations around aged care, and a growing need for in-home aged care. Workers in aged care are expected to update their skills and maintain compliance with various standards, creating a high-pressure environment for providers.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission released its sector performance report in December 2020. It identified four key areas of non-compliance:
- safe personal and clinical care
- managing infection-related risks
- management of high-impact risks
- risk management systems.
1. Safe personal and clinical care
Safe personal and clinical care includes activities like helping with bathing, providing nursing services, and helping clients gain independence. The care must be tailored to the client’s needs and preferences, treating the client with respect and including them as an active participant.
2. Minimisation of infection-related risks
The risk of infection has had a high profile in the past 18 months due to COVID-19 but managing the risk of infection has always been a priority in aged care organisations. Aged care organisations are expected to prevent, detect, and control infections and apply appropriate infection management measures.
3. Management of high-impact risks
Minimising risk is a crucial element of providing safe personal and clinical care. While some risk is unavoidable, especially when giving clients autonomy, it’s important to be able to recognise and manage risks effectively.
4. Risk management systems
An effective risk management system should identify both actual incidents and near misses, where an incident was averted or no harm was done (but there was potential for harm to be done).
How aged care providers can effectively address these requirements
Meeting aged care quality standards while satisfying the requirements for compliance is no easy feat, especially in a changing environment where every dollar counts. Providing useful and ongoing training to staff members is essential.
In many cases, aged care providers may struggle to provide training in a streamlined, easy-to-access way for staff members who work different shifts and may not have time to attend in-person training on a regular basis.
Training or upskilling team members using an online learning platform can help overcome this challenge by complimenting traditional training methods. Online training lets staff members complete the training at a time and location that’s convenient for them, making them more likely to engage with the content. Choosing content created by recognised experts can also help aged care service providers ensure the training they’re providing is highly relevant and impactful, and can be applied in the real world.
Aged care organisations face the continuing challenge of managing which staff members have completed assessments, managing practical assessments, following up completed continuous assessment tasks, risk management, and collecting data for the organisation’s integrated records. Prioritising areas to focus on for ongoing learning can also be a challenge.
Delivering training online as well as via traditional methods can help aged care organisations stay on top of training requirements and give staff members access to the high-quality content they need, in a way that suits them, without overburdening them with repetitive or unnecessary training. This approach can help ensure staff members are skilled in the appropriate areas so the organisation can comply with the Aged Care Quality Standards.
Kineo offers assistance to aged care organisations looking to align their training with the Aged Care Quality Standards. Kineo offers hundreds of courses purpose-built to help aged care organisations improve their level of skills and care. To find out more, contact the team today.
Simon Sentance
Kineo Courses, Product Owner at Kineo AU
Simon looks after the Kineo Courses product offering in APAC. Simon and his Adelaide-based team are taking a big step beyond the cookie cutter approach of many off-the-shelf eLearning products available today. Their goal is to develop workplace online training designed to drive behavioural change and deliver measurable impact for your business.