Careerforce eChat January 2010

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Brain injury consultation - February

Starting February 16^th Careerforce will hold an online consultation on the draft National Certificate in Brain Injury (Level 4). This draft qualification has been designed to recognise the knowledge and skills required of residential or community based support workers who provide support to people after brain injury.
 
Draft unit standards have been developed to cover:

• rehabilitation after brain injury
• anatomy of the brain, brain injury, and its effects on the functioning of people after brain injury
• strategies to assist people manage fatigue after brain injury
• effects of brain injury on cognition
• effects of brain injury on life roles, social roles, and relationships
• effects of brain injury on behaviour
• effects of brain injury on physical function
• effects of brain injury on communication
• psychological wellbeing after brain injury
• effects of brain injury on children

All eChat subscribers will be notified by email when the consultation commences.

Future consultations

Over the next few months Careerforce will also hold online consultations on the following draft topics and national qualifications:

• Team Leader in Health and Disability
• Advocacy
• Senior Support Worker
• Mental Health and Addiction career pathways
• Breastfeeding unit standards 

More information on these topics, qualifications and pathways will be provided closer to the time. 

Upcoming sector panel meetings

In February Careerforce will be hosting a number of sector panels to assist in the development of new national qualifications:

• Early in February the Mental Health and Addiction sector panel will reconvene.  This group will be looking at the draft standards and assessment samples for the proposed level 4 certificate which has been developed to form part of the revised career pathway for this sector. Contact Margaret Vick for more information on this project.
  
• In February the sector panel looking into the development of a proposed Advocacy national certificate (level 5) will also meet. This qualification has been put together with the active support of the Health and Disability Commissioner’s Office. Contact Chrissie Cope for more information on this proposed qualification.
  
• The development of the draft Public Health qualification is ready to be presented to the public health sector panel in late February.  It is intended that the resulting work will then be presented to an employer group for further comment. Contact Ruth Kibble for more information on this proposed qualification.

Pilot to recognise existing skills underway

Staff who have been working successfully in their role for many years, but who have not had the opportunity to gain a relevant national qualification, stand to benefit from Careerforce’s recognition of current competency (RCC) programme which is now underway as a pilot in the more rural and remote areas of the West Coast.
 
The programme, developed by Careerforce in conjunction with the West Coast DHB and Access Homehealth, will enable experienced staff with existing skills and knowledge to have their current competencies recognised and to gain the National Certificate in Community Support Services (Foundation Skills) Level 2.
 
As part of the RCC process an assessment workbook has been developed for the support worker to complete. The support worker’s manager/supervisor also completes a form to verify that they have observed the support worker undertake the required tasks to the standard required. Supplementary questions are also provided in cases where a manager/supervisor needs to gather more information or evidence.
 
Future editions of eChat will update you on this and other RCC programmes which employers are now embarking on. Any employer interested in having their staff undertake a RCC programme to recognise their current skills and knowledge should contact Ruth Kibbleon 027 255 0372.

Supporting successful learning 

Literacy, language and numeracy and learning (LLNL) is a developing area and the concepts and practices are constantly changing.  The days when literacy and numeracy were considered to be only ‘reading, writing and arithmetic’ are long gone. 
 
With the constantly changing demands of our society (such as compliance documents, higher customer needs, multicultural co-workers and consumers, technology changes etc) there is an ongoing need to develop people’s confidence with the literacy, language, numeracy and learning demands of their roles. 
 
Adults who have not been involved in formal qualifications before or for a long time, often come into the learning with a sense of anxiety and a fear of failure.  This fear creates blocks in their learning and can lead to:

• not reading something that may seem straight forward to a person who is not experiencing the same fear
• not verbally responding to a question being asked of them because of not wanting to look foolish
• a person from another culture, where English is their second language, indicating they understand with either a nod or saying yes because they don’t want to look foolish or question authority because it is not the custom in their culture 

Careerforce’s Integrated Workplace Learning Project provides workplaces (managers, trainers, assessors, verifiers) with professional development and support to help them overcome some of the learning challenges that their staff may face.
 
More information on Careerforce’s approach to embedding literacy, language, numeracy and learning can be found here.
 
For further information about support available, contact Louise Hawkins on (03) 374 1314.

Resources make qualifications more relevant for mental health and addiction

Resources developed to support mental health and addiction employers provide their staff with the Foundation Skills (Level 2) and Core Competencies (Level 3) national qualifications will be launched in March.
 
The new resources provide specific mental health and addiction examples and case studies designed to make these workplace based qualifications more relevant to the mental health and addiction sector.
 
Mental health and addiction employers interested in finding out more about offering these qualifications to their staff should contact Penny Rogers on 027 6753284.
 
A case study of a mental health and addiction employer already offering Careerforce career pathways can be found below.

(MHA pathway update: Draft unit standards and assessments for the proposed mental health and addiction career pathways are currently being written in consultation with the sector panel. These will be reviewed over February and March and will be available for consultation in April).

Supporting migrant workers

In October the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) announced that Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) are not able to access Government funding (i.e. Standard Training Measures or STMs) for individuals on work permits who have enrolled with tertiary education organisations that are not signatories to the Code of Practice for Pastoral Care of International Students. According to the TEC, ITOs are not eligible to become signatories to this Code as they are not providers of education/training.
 
Careerforce, along with other ITOs, have contended this decision with TEC and Immigration New Zealand as it limits training options for employers.  The migrant workforce plays a significant role in the health and disability sector, and workplace based training is important in ensuring migrants are able to deliver safe and appropriate care and support to their consumers.
 
Careerforce, in conjunction with the Industry Training Federation, is working with Government officials to reverse this decision. In the interim Careerforce will continue to enrol migrant workers into qualifications and cover the associated costs normally funded through STMs.     

New Careerforce Workplace Advisors

Careerforce is pleased to announce the appointment of Joanna Martino and Rachel Kingi as Careerforce Workplace Advisors (CWAs). Joanna and Rachel will be supporting health and disability employers to develop training plans for staff and helping make learning and assessment part of the everyday practice.
 
A qualified doctor, Joanna has a wealth of experience in the health and disability sector, and for the last seven years has worked as a needs assessor for LifeLinks. Joanna will be based in Christchurch. 
 
Rachel has over 20 years experience in the health and disability sectors, including work with the Bay of Plenty District Health Board, Audit Waiparera and Te Puna Ora O Mataatua Charitable Trust. She will be based in Whakatane and will also undertake work with Maori service providers.

Embedding in action at Braemore Lodge 

Braemore Lodge is a mental health residential facility working within the Lakes District in the Bay of Plenty.
 
All new staff are enrolled in Careerforce’s Foundation Skills (Level 2) national qualification. Upon completing this they are encouraged to go onto Core Competencies (Level 3) and the National Certificate in Mental Health Support Work (Level 4).

It is anticipated that this year some staff will undertake the Residential Limited Credit Programme (LCP). While the LCP was originally developed for workers supporting dementia patients, its focus on dealing with challenging behaviours makes it an ideal part of Braemore’s career pathway.

Career pathways are really well established here at Braemore. This starts from the point of orientation and induction, which we’ve structured to fit around the Foundation Skills qualification”, says Braemore Manager and registered assessor Donna Mitchell.

Donna has noticed staff adopting different learning styles as they progress through the levels of training. 

“The Foundation Skills training is a very structured, classroom style learning. However as staff move onto Core Competencies they grow in confidence, with a greater focus on self-paced learning.  This is complemented with one-to-one tutorials and monthly study classes.  Being a Level 3 qualification, Core Competencies is more of a challenge, but staff have got into the routine of adding study to their day during any down periods“, said Donna

As the Lakes District has a large Maori population, Braemore has utilised Careerforce’s Foundation Skills te reo workbooks. 

“These help staff understand cultural dimensions of care, and provide an important cultural connection for patients”, said Donna. 

The results of training have been obvious.  Staff develop higher levels of confidence, knowledge of procedures, and provide better quality of care.   This is due to clear expectations being set within the organisation, and ongoing reinforcement and assessment.

Donna says a real benefit of the training is that trained staff are now fully aware of policies and procedures, and understand why they exist in the first place.  

“Staff are now actively checking that our policies and procedures are up to scratch. If there are gaps, staff are rewriting policies and procedures so they do meet the standard. This has also resulted in great buy-in from staff,” says Donna.

Both Donna and Braemore’s Mitchell McLaughlan are Careerforce registered assessors.

“We assess more than one unit standard at a time, and often more than one staff member at a time. We capture naturally occurring evidence at work, when it happens.  Because we work closely with the staff we know what they can do, and if they’ve already demonstrated the skills required then there’s no need to make them role play it or act it out,” said Mitchell. 

“It’s great being an assessor and seeing staff realise that they are actually very skilled and capable”, he said.