The inaugural graduating class of Engagement & Individual Support Care Workers have been deployed to ACH Group residential aged care homes to provide an elevated level of support to residents.
The newly trained workforce will support residents living with advanced dementia or social isolation to remain socially and cognitively engaged, and physically active, to enhance their quality of life and care needs.
For the past two weeks, 14 ACH Group Care Workers, who have put their hands up and been selected to the new Engagement & Individual Support Care Workers roles, have undergone an extensive training and onboarding program to equip them with the skills to deliver an outstanding customer experience.
Head of Workforce Rebecca Burns said the training covered a full gamut of skills to empower our Engagement & Individual Support Care Workers to deeply know the person, then create person centred engagement experiences using technology, food, and age-appropriate resources.to enhance engagement, socialisation and independence.
“This course was about providing the skills, tools and resources that the new workers will need to go into ACH Group residential care homes and make a difference for residents,” she said.
“This is just the start though as we will continue to provide support for our Engagement & Individual Support Care Workers as we implement this exciting new role across ACH Group residential care homes, with the second group finishing early in December.”
Rita Grexa was the first person employed in the new role by ACH Group as part of a pilot based at Milpara Residential Care Home at Rostrevor.
Rita said the model had been hugely successful at Milpara and looked forward to welcoming new colleagues across ACH Group.
“What this program has done is encouraged people to enhance their independence by reengaging with the activities to suit their abilities,” she said.
Service Design Manager Teresa Moran, who led the project with the Milpara leadership team early last year to design the model of care and rollout the new Rhythm of the Day and new roles said: “The results have been staggering and we’ve seen a substantial increase in almost every quality of life and quality of care metric since we’ve started the program.”
“It is so exciting to see the program rolled out across ACH Group and I have no doubt our new Engagement & Individual Support Care Workers will make a huge difference in the lives of our residents.”