Why Sector Support trained 50 home care workers to be Digital Coaches
Case Study:
The client: Sector Support, Development and Training Central Coast and Newcastle
Sector Support and Development provides support and training to providers of community aged care services under the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) in the New South Wales (NSW) Central Coast and Hunter Valley regions. The Sector Support program helps to build staff capability, and to ensure the community aged care sector in these regions have the capacity to meet the current and emerging needs of their shared community of 60 organisations and thousands of older people accessing supports to stay in their homes. Their services span accredited and non-accredited training and qualifications.
The Issue:
With COVID-19 lockdown measures in place, care workers are some of the only people permitted to visit their clients in their home or independent living environment.
Increasingly care workers in this setting are being asked by their clients for help with digital devices and access to online services, however care workers often don’t have the knowledge themselves to appropriately support.
Add to this, a rapid move to remote working and new challenges arise for workers who don't have the technology or digital skills to work from home.
Sector Support identified this as an opportunity to offer training to improve the sector's skills in digital literacy and digital coaching for clients. The training couldn’t be about just providing digital basics, it had to take into account different adult learning styles, different skill sets, remote locations and a vast array of different client scenarios for which these skills would be applied.
The Solution:
Sector Support worked with YourLink to develop and deliver a training program for frontline staff to build their digital skills and their ability to coach others to learn. Centred around the different learning styles of the care workers, the training would expand their personal digital skills as well as giving them methods to coach their senior clients. Over three one hour sessions, care workers would learn:
The role of the Digital Coach and the digital learner journey
The basics of digital devices to create confidence
Everyday practical applications eg QR codes, apps, online forms
Online security
Technology for connection, interests and entertainment.
Demand was high and 50 care workers quickly signed up to take part. To effectively engage with such a large number of care workers on the move or remotely located, the group training delivery had to be 100% online and interactive. Each session was delivered using Zoom with practical content as well as the use of Zoom polls and chat for story sharing and comments. YourLink’s team included a lead trainer, co-trainers, and a dedicated chat facilitator to keep the experience dynamic and engaging.
The Impact:
The Sector Support and Development team aimed to significantly improve the digital skills and confidence for the home care workforce it supports. This needed to be done in a sector that has become fatigued with online learning and is time poor. By working with YourLink, the Sector Support team were able to deliver an engaging and interactive learning experience.
Download the case study for more information.