The Home and Community Care (HACC) Program is a joint Federal and State Government initiative providing basic support to older people, and to younger people with disabilities and their carers. A key aim of the HACC Program is to enhance clients’ independence in order to avoid their premature or inappropriate admission to residential care.
Consumer Engagement Handbook for HACC Services in Tasmania (September 2012)
Consumer Engagement: Literature Review, Good Practice Approaches and Pilot Projects in HACC in Tasmania 2012
TasCOSS interim report: HACC Survey on Consumer Engagement (August 2012)
The TasCOSS HACC consumer consultation project is an ongoing research and policy development project in support of Tasmania’s HACC program’s key objective of ‘independence’. The project’s further objectives are the research and promotion of best-practice consumer engagement processes, to make recommendations and to add value to current policies, strategies and practices.
1. Consumer Consultation Project (Current)
2. Client Engagement Project/Model/Tool Kit (Current)
3. Past Projects and Project Reports
TasCOSS’s two current projects explore (1) the experiences of older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) in receiving HACC support and (2) how an innovative HACC client, providers and stakeholder developed Client Engagement Model and supporting Tool Kit can encourage and improve more holistic ways of working with consumers.
TasCOSS has been engaged in designing and implementing a range of projects since 2001. Please follow the above third link to visit past projects or to download related reports.
HACC Consumer Consultation Project 2011
Home and Community Care 2011 Project: Supporting independence among older people in Tasmania’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
This project focuses on the experiences of older people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in receiving HACC support, and also help of any kind. They may be receiving home help, home maintenance, allied health, meals, nursing or personal care from HACC, or help from a carer or family members to cope in their daily lives. Whatever their living circumstances, their experiences are valued and form the basis of this project.
Key informants such as service providers also have experience and knowledge to contribute to this project. Therefore, an important aspect of the project is gaining the views of key informants about how well their services meet the needs of members of CALD communities and what might be done to improve them.
It is hoped that as a result of the project, services and programs of support will better help older members of CALD communities to live more independently at home, and enjoy an enhanced quality of life in their homes and communities.
2009 – 2010 Independence Project
Dr Carol Patterson designed and implemented the 2009-2010 HACC project Independence: Support for the elderly in their communities. To download the report click here.
HACC Tasmania Client Engagement Project
Development of a Model & Tool Kit
The Model and Tool Kit and an Organisational Self-Assessment Tool can be downloaded:
• Client Engagement Model (PDF version or word version)
• Client EngagementTool Kit
• Organisational self assessment tool
Please feel free to use the model, amend it, add to it, etc. for your own or your service's purpose.
We would be grateful to hear from you with any comments or to share your experience.
Background and Methodology
In our early research we realised that nationally and internationally there has been a shift from occasional or more ad hoc consumer consultation to a more planned, comprehensive and continuous approach to consumer engagement.
In our work with HACC providers, clients and stakeholders, and finalising the model, we defined client engagement as:
Consumer or client engagement is the continuous and dynamic process of interaction and communication between clients, staff and all stakeholders to best meet the needs of clients, to identify future needs of clients or the wider community and to best facilitate learning, personal growth and improvements.
The HACC client engagement project 2010/2011 consists of a series of four workshops/forums designed to support HACC service providers to develop and implement best-practice consumer engagement policies, strategies and activities. The workshops, run with the assistance of the Health Issues Centre (HIC), engage HACC service providers and consumers in a bottom-up, grass-roots process to:
• Develop an agreed set of consumer engagement principles for the HACC sector;
• Develop an agreed HACC consumer engagement model;
• Develop an implementation strategy; and
• Support the implementation of the model by HACC service providers.
The overall workshop process is based on initial consultation with HACC service providers in early / mid 2009 and on a gradual increase of involving consumers in the four state-wide workshops. The first workshop was held in November 2009
The project has been designed in conjunction with the Health Issues Centre and their long-standing expertise in consumer engagement, in particular with assistance from Dr. Theresa Dawson.
The HIC is a not-for-profit organisation and is nationally recognised for its expertise in the area of consumer engagement in terms of research, training and the provision of consultancy services, has nationally recognised expertise in the area of consumer engagement.
Please contact the HACC Client Engagement Project Officer Klaus Baur on (03) 6231 0755 (Mon-Wed) or klaus@tascoss.org.au
Events & Project Milestones
2011
May: Invitation to present model, tool kit and first experiences at the ‘Consumers Reforming Health Conference – The Next Wave of Community Engagement in Health Care’. (18-20th July).
April: Application and subsequent invitation to present the Tasmanian HACC Client Engagement model and Tool Kit at the 2011 National HACC Conference in Brisbane.
Provision of continuing support to HACC providers to embrace the model/Tool Kit to possibly implement the model or aspects of it. 'Client engagement' and 'narrative enquiry' workshops are held in the three regions of Tasmania for providers, staff, clients and stakeholders.
2010
August - November: the Model/Tool Kit are recognised as integrated and generic approach to client/consumer engagement. TasCOSS is encouraged to and invited to present at several national/international conferences: mental health, first aid, consumers & health and HACC
August: the first HACC Client Engagement Model and Toolkit are launched at the 3rd event/workshop in Riverside/Launceston.
• Client Engagement Model(PDF version or word version)
• Client Engagement Tool Kit
• Organisationalself assessment tool;
April - July: Further input by providers, stakeholders and HACC consumers was identified and a project Steering Group was formed to oversee the developments and to give integrity to the project. Four clients and six others guided the Model development and agreed on the additional development of an integrated, comprehensive and easy to use Tool kit.
March: the 2nd event "Workshop" was held in the regional city of Burnie in North West of Tasmania. This smaller event was designed to bring passionate stakeholders together and to draw out key ingredients, inputs, values and principles in an attempt to create a generic consumer or client engagement model.
Client-provider team working at the March workshop
2009
November: The first forum/state-wide workshop "sharing" was being held on 30th November 2009 in Campbell Town. The aim of the workshop was to share current practice, to explore national and international best practice and to commence participation of HACC service consumers at workshops/events.
Providers, clients and stakeholders during some of the presentations
and sharing of current good client engagement practice at the November forum
Resources
Generic Resources
•http://www.healthissuescentre.org.au/publications/
The Health Issues Centre web-site has a wealth of consumer / client engagement related materials
• TasCOSS Client Engagement Article
November 2009 forum
1. Consumer Participation Resources and Links
2. Examples of studies for TasCOSS aged care forum
3. Menu of engagement methods
4. Slides: from Consultation to Engagement - Dr. Tere Dawson (HIC)
5. Slides: Consumer Engagement Environment - TasCOSS
6. A Young Girl Still Dwells (poem read)
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HACC – Past TasCOSS Projects & Reports
HACC Consumer Consultation Projects in the past years are:
In 2010 Robin Wilkinson A.M. completed her project and her publication ‘A Consumers’ Guide to Personal Care’ which is now available. This publication is primarily intended for people who use personal care services, carers, service providers and carer training agencies. The guide may be equally insightful and useful for staff, carers and to anyone working in health or community services.
1.A Consumers’ Guide to Personal Care (2010);
2.Independence: Support for the Elderly in Their Communities (2009);
3.Enhancing Quality of Life. Addressing Poverty and Disadvantage thought the HACC program. The study was the result of a consultative process the methodology of which is a combination of in-depth semi-structured interviews and group work. (2008);
4.Safe as Houses. Elderly HACC Clients Describe Experiences of Vulnerability (2007);
5.Finding Ways to Stay at Home. Consumers’ Experiences of the Intake, Assessment and Referral processes in HACC (2006);
6.HACC Consumers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds (2005);
7.Dementia and regionally specific issues (2004);
8.Regional Issues with HACC services (2003); and
9.Areas of unmet need in HACC services (2002).
Image: TasCOSS HACC Reports on display at the National HACC Conference in Brisbane in April, 2011
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