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Author Archives: Paul Gilliot

Grad Advice – Why become a Community Clinician?

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2021 Graduate Program

Community Clinicians get the best of both worlds.

After years of study you are reaching an exciting time in your health professional career – it’s time to graduate and start working.

The difficult decision you now face is where to start your career? Hospital – Rehabilitation Centre – Private Practice OR a career that offers the best of both worlds as a Community Clinician.

Community Benefits:

• Keep your weekends for you! Follow a 9-5 structure with regular clients with whom you can build rewarding relationships and achieve short and long term goals
• Autonomous work environment visiting a variety of clients with different conditions and needs.
• Escape the four walls of an office, enjoy your lunch breaks in a park or by the beach!
• Work with other clinicians and client’s family in a friendly and collaborative environment to deliver the best quality care.

Many of our Empower Healthcare clinicians began their careers in private practice and hospitals, and are now thriving after moving into the community setting. This is thanks to reduced caseload stress, flexible hours and building lasting and productive relationships with their clients.

After 8 years full time working in private practice I needed to make a change to restore my work/life balance. Working for Empower in the community setting enables me to maintain a variety within my clinical caseload and challenge my skills while reclaiming my evenings and weekends for myself – James, Physiotherapist

Why choose Empower?

1. Induction and Orientation Program – a structured orientation plan including shadowing our senior clinicians to give you the support you need to get started
2. Mentoring and Peer learning – partner up with and learn valuable skills from a senior clinician
3. Monthly online team meetings including professional development presentations and case discussions
4. Regular check-ins with your area team leader to ensure you are getting the support you need and work through any concerns you may have
5. A dedicated support team to assist with your schedule, allowing you to focus on being a health professional

6. No pressure to over service or discharge clients before they are ready, make your own clinical decisions

I love that Empower is always adapting, growing and progressing, signs of a good company, where everyone wants to work  – Olivia, Physiotherapist

At Empower Healthcare we believe that our strength lies in our people. Please call our People and Culture team to discuss any questions and they can even put you in touch with some of our current Graduates or Clinicians and hopefully welcome you to the Empower family.

DOWNLOAD OUR GRAD FLYER FOR MORE DETAILS

OTHER HELPFUL BLOGS LINKS

Empower Healthcare’s Career Advancement Progression 

Resume Tips to Highlight your Grad Experience

Need more info?

Call Lilian our People and Culture Manager for a copy of our Graduate Program flyer on 03 9068 3739

Referral On-boarding to Become Paperless Using AlayaCare

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Referral on-boarding now completed online in minutes

Empower Healthcare have teamed up with the world’s most trusted home and community care technology provider AlayaCare to improve referral on-boarding and operational efficiencies.

Why Have We Introduced AlayaCare?

AlayaCare’s advanced technology will strengthen our services to deliver higher quality Home Care to our clients.

This highly innovative technology enables us to integrate a seamless, end-to-end paperless management approach to clients and consumers.

Referral on-boarding will now be completed online, confirmations to case managers and clients will be electronic.

Having a complete cloud-based workflow process now provides our clients with:

  • A faster and simpler on-boarding form
  • Significantly reduced time spent on paperwork
  • Diminished wait-times between on-boarding and first appointment booking
  • Enhanced compliance with increased documentation accuracy
  • Peace of mind that consumer information is stored in a highly secure cloud-based environment

No one likes paperwork and repetitive administration tasks associated with their role. We have trialled our new process with a pilot group of clients and they have overwhelmingly found it faster, simpler and so easy to use.

We know our clients are going to appreciate the introduction of AlayaCare.

Better still, the Empower team can do what they do best – focus on providing exceptional care based on consumer end goals and less on administrative tasks.

Plus, we are making a conscious effort in reducing the environmental impact and climate change.

When will AlayaCare go live?

We will launch AlayaCare on Wednesday 11 March.

How Have Clients Been Notified?

Home Care & NDIS Clients have been notified by email and will be sent a follow-up communication with a direct link to our e-referral form.

From Thur 5 March, the referral form will also be found on multiple locations of our website.

An FAQ can be found below to pre-empt any questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it typically take to complete the new referral form?

Around 2-3 minutes.

Can I attach consumer data documentation within the on-boarding process?

Yes you can.

Who can I call if I have questions around completing the onboarding form?

Anyone from the national office Home Care Services team on 03 9583 1364.

Will I receive a written confirmation once a referral form has been submitted? Yes, an email confirmation will be sent straight to your inbox.

Yes, an email confirmation will be sent straight to your inbox.

 

Author: Tammy Pearce, Home Care Services Manager…

The IDDSI Framework Trumps the Current Australian Standards

Blog banner IDDSI Framework Trumps Australian Standards

No one wants to deal with an enquiry from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Neither do you want the heightened stress from a choking incident possibly damaging the credibility of your facility. And what if an investigation determines the incident as a premature and preventable fatality? Transitioning to the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) global framework could be one of many strategies that protects the reputation of your organisation by reducing these risks and increasing the safety and well being of your consumers.

Part 2 of the IDDSI blog series explains how the IDDSI framework trumps the current Australian Standards and how we can help you and your staff either begin or complete accomplishment of the transition process.

The size of the problem

IDDSI Framework , incidence of choking is 7 times greater for people aged over 65

As dysphagia often happens at the same time as other health conditions, it is difficult to be certain of the prevalence rate. However, and alarmingly, research indicates that 50-75% of nursing home residents have a prevalence of dysphagia (1).

And as you may be aware, many of these instances can be avoided if dysphagia is treated timely and appropriately.

What is more worrying, is that if dysphagia is not treated appropriately by staff, then besides choking, associated health complications include pneumonia, chest infections, dehydration, malnutrition and weight loss.

Often dysphagia residents exhibit sociated declined health, so staff will have difficulty in administering medication and this can result in hospital admissions. In the worst cases, dysphagia can result in death.

When Professor Joe Ibrahim, Head of Health Law and Ageing Research Unit at the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash analysed nursing home deaths within a 15-year period, he found over 3,000 deaths were considered premature and preventable (2).

“The study showed that choking was the second highest incidence that caused premature deaths in nursing homes.”

Don’t leave your residents to chance and become a statistic.

Why does the IDDSI Framework Trump the Australian Standards

While we have had voluntary national terminology in Australia that addresses food textures and thickened fluids for people with swallowing problems since 2007, the (IDDSI) Committee created global standardisations based on comprehensive evidence-based best practice. From recorded experiences, the recommendations accommodate a greater spectrum of severity, so there is far more accuracy in serving food textures and drink thicknesses appropriate for individual conditions.

Additionally, these standards have been introduced to reduce the variation in care. While staff are transient across geographic locations, a global standardisation aids in a universal understanding and approach that minimises risk.

There are three major changes between the existing Australian terminology to the IDDSI framework, such as 1. a new numbering system 2. colour code changes denoting the thickness of drinks, and 3. the removal of bread and sandwiches from the new IDDSI Level 6 Soft & Bite-Sized category.

By transitioning to the IDDSI standards, you and your staff can have peace of mind, knowing another advisory and protection level has been added, with these standards supported by peak bodies such as Speech Pathology Australia, Dietitians Association of Australia and the Institute of Hospitality in HealthCare. As all relevant health professionals are educated and trained to adopt the standards, further benefits yielded will include improved communication and collaboration.

Australia is joining more than 20 other countries including New Zealand, the US, Canada, and several European nations in implementing it.

The best way to implement this framework is through an AWARE-PREPARE & ADOPT strategy.

And this is where I can be of help to you.

I have created a FREE informative presentation for your staff involved in care and catering that addresses the first stage of Awareness.

Let Empower help your facility transition.

IDDSI Framework FREE Workshop

 

Author: Shirley Webber, Senior Dietitian

Sources:
1. Swallowing disorders in nursing home residents: how can the problem be explained?
2. Aged care: More scrutiny needed to prevent thousands of premature nursing home deaths

 

About Dietetics

Dietitians are experts in food and nutrition. They assist people with optimising their diet and nutrition to improve one’s health and quality of life, and to prevent and treat a range of chronic health conditions. Dietitians can also help patients manage nutrition at different stages of life, nutrient deficiencies, and food intolerances and allergies. Dietitians have sound university training accredited by the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), and undertake continuous professional development that complies with the DAA guidelines for best practice.

Dietitians perform thorough nutrition assessments and monitoring, taking into account various factors including a patient’s medical, clinical and diet history, individual nutritional requirements and their health goals. This information helps accurately diagnose nutrition issues and forms a treatment plan that ensures patients receive quality evidenced-based care and achieve the best health outcomes.

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