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The latest news and updates from the North Metro Sector Development Team
Issue August 2017
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Welcome to this edition of the keeping you connected e-Newsletter.  If you have been receiving our newsletter in the past you will notice some differences from previous editions.  keeping you connected has been updated to reflect changes that have been occurring in the community aged care sector.
 
The first change is the confirmation of our catchment.  We are now a North Metro team, North Division.  In February 2016 the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced a new organisational structure.  In part, this new structure was designed to drive DHHS’s strategic directions of:

  • Person centred services and care
  • Local solutions
  • Earlier and more connected support
  • Advancing quality, safety and innovation.

The eight former health regions in Victoria have now transitioned into four operational divisions (North, South, East and West).  Each operational division covers a mix of rural and outer and inner metropolitan areas of Victoria.  The North Division incorporates Loddon Mallee with DHHS offices in Bendigo, Mildura and Swan Hill and North Metro (Hume, Whittlesea, Moreland, Banyule, Nillumbik, Whittlesea and Yarra) with an office in North Fitzroy.

The Department of Health and Human Services North Division aligns with the Department of Health (DoH) Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) Team 2 geographical area.

For further information in relation to DHHS North Metro -  contact your Senior Program Advisor. 

For information on the CHSP email – CHSP.VIC.Team2@health.gov.au

Sector Development Teams across the North, West, East and South Metro regions will continue to meet regularly to collaborate and share ideas to promote better outcomes for older Victorians.

The second change to this edition represents the transition of Active Service Model (ASM) to Wellness and Reablement and the introduction of the Regional Development Coordinator, who along with the Diversity Advisor and the Aboriginal Development Officer form the new North Metro Sector Development Team.   

The North Metro Sector Development team includes:


We hope that you find the information in this edition interesting and of use to you in your work.  Please feel free to forward this e-Newsletter to anyone who may be interested and if you have not already, you can subscribe at the HWPCP newsletters page. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on content for future editions.

Regards, North Metro Sector Development team

IN THIS ISSUE:

LATEST NEWS

Employment Opportunity – North Metro Diversity Advisor

Applications for the North Metro Diversity Advisor are currently being accepted. 

The key role of the North Metro Diversity Advisor is to facilitate and drive community care sector diversity planning and practice.  This includes working with relevant networks and the Northern Metro Community Care Alliance to promote diversity planning. The North Metro Diversity Advisor will also develop a broad knowledge of population data,  build rapport with Home and Community Care Program for Young People (HACC PYP) and CHSP funded organisations to support them in the development and implementation of their diversity plans. 

The successful applicant will have a tertiary qualification in a relevant discipline and experience working in the health, aged care or community sector.  Position description: Diversity Advisor – North Metro Region

Applications close at 5.00p.m. Wednesday 30th August 2017. 

Full details can be found on the Sunbury Community Health Care recruitment page.

For further information or enquiries contact:
Carolyn Bolton – North Metro Sector Development Team Coordinator
carolynb@hwpcp.org.au  0499 784 465

Introducing - Christina Micallef, North Metro Regional Development Coordinator

The Role of the Regional Development Coordinator

Based in Broadmeadows at the Hume City Hub, the North Metro Regional Development Coordinator forms an integral part of the Sector Development Team working closely with the Wellness and Reablement Consultant, Diversity Advisor and the Aboriginal Development Officer to deliver and communicate state wide directions, priorities and activities, as well as feedback consolidated information to DoH and DHHS regarding systemic regional issues, risks, trends and opportunities. 

The Regional Development Coordinator will also work closely with the Regional Assessment Service Coordinator; engage with local HACC PYP and CHSP service providers, networks, stakeholders and partners; provide secretariat support to the Northern Metro Community Care Alliance; and promote collaborative service delivery and shared good practice across the North Metro region.  In particular, the Regional Development Coordinator will work with local government and other CHSP organisations to identify gaps in service and opportunities to feed into the broader commonwealth and state planning processes.

What Christina Brings to The Role

Christina holds a unique mix of knowledge, skills and experience having worked in a variety of positions spanning 20 years within not for profit, community development and health, including roles in regional development, corporate services, human resources and over a decade in local government aged care and disability leadership positions. Christina’s professional and educational experiences have developed an extensive breadth of knowledge regarding the social impacts of aging and disability and the importance of client directed care and strength based support services grounded in collaborative partnerships and stakeholder engagement. Christina also has substantive experience in project and change management, with highly developed conceptual and analytical skills to identify gaps and apply value based solutions responsive to current and future industry growth and trends.    
 
What Influenced Christina to take on the RDC Role

Hailing from Kilmore and having lived predominantly in regional areas, Christina has a keen interest in access and support for vulnerable, isolated and/or at-risk persons within the contexts of industry reforms. As an experienced assessment and service leader at three Victorian Councils, Christina understands the need for and importance of well-coordinated and consistent sector development and change management.

Prior to taking on the Regional Development Coordinator position, Christina was most recently the Home Support Coordinator at City of Whittlesea, and had this to say about her move into regional development:
 
‘I applied for the RDC role because, as the Coordinator of Council CHSP and HACC PYP services, I was experiencing first-hand the impacts of a dual transition to NDIS and CHSP and its effects on both workforce morale and the quality of service outcomes for our consumers.  For these reforms to succeed, there is a strong need for solid awareness and understanding of program changes and requirements which can only come from timely, consistent and accurate information.’ 

Christina looks forward to being the disseminator of information to her colleagues in the sector and developing a regional profile for the North.

For further information or enquiries contact:
Christina (CiCi) Micallef – Regional Development Coordinator
christinam@hwpcp.org.au 0477 398 294

Introducing - Marianna Pisani, North Metro Active and Healthy Ageing Advisor


Marianna Pisani has recently commenced in the role of Active and Healthy Ageing Advisor, North Metropolitan Melbourne, Department of Health and Human Services following on from the work of Jo Richardson who has taken a secondment.  Marianna is one of nine Active and Healthy Ageing Advisors located across the state.  The role of the Active and Healthy Ageing Advisor is to promote, build and support the health and wellbeing of older people (50 years and over) in Victoria, particularly those experiencing disadvantage and social isolation through system change, population health/prevention and placed based approaches.  This includes working with agencies, services and local government to:
  • Review, build and apply the evidence base for improving health and wellbeing for older Victorians
  • Build on and support successful healthy ageing initiatives across catchments
  • Support the local implementation of state-wide health and wellbeing strategies
  • Enhance and/or build partnerships to enable integrated, system wide approaches to active and healthy ageing through integrated health promotion and other prevention efforts.
  • Increase the organisational capacity and workforce to strengthen health and wellbeing approaches targeting older Victorians.
The active and healthy ageing priorities align with the Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan.  This includes (but is not limited to) the priority areas of healthy eating and active living; resilient and liveable communities; and connection to culture and community.

Marianna is interested in hearing from you about your community/agency needs for enabling active and healthy ageing within northern metropolitan Melbourne.

For further information or enquiries contact:
Marianna Pisani – North Metro Active and Healthy Ageing Advisor
Marianna.Pisani@dhhs.vic.gov.au 9412 2749 (Mon, Tue & Thurs)

The Metropolitan Aboriginal Aged Care and Disability Network


The Metropolitan Aboriginal Aged Care and Disability Network was first established in 1994 and represents the Metropolitan Melbourne region.  The Network is comprised of staff and agencies that provide Community Care services to Aboriginal Elders, Carers and people with a Disability.  The network members support people to access HACC PYP, CHSP, NDIS and Home Care Packages. 

Details on the Metropolitan Aboriginal Aged Care and Disability Network, Its Vision, Purpose and Meetings can be found in the factsheet

For further information or enquiries contact:
Cathy Austin - Aboriginal Development Officer
cathya@aal.org.au 9480 7739
 

Northern Metro Community Care Alliance


The Northern Metro Community Care Alliance is being formed.  A Leadership Group has been established to support the development of the Northern Metro Community Care Alliance.  The Leadership Group has met a number of times over recent months and are working to finalise their terms of reference.   The Leadership group consists of representation from a range of services including:
  • Local Government
  • Community Health
  • CALD agencies
  • Aboriginal organisations
  • Nursing
  • Non-government organisations (both large and small)
  • Carer organisations
  • Aged Care Assessment Service
  • Regional Assessment Services
The Northern Metro Community Care Alliance will be a key vehicle for communication and collaboration between funded organisations, the North Metro Sector Development Team, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Health.  In addition to regularly held meetings and forums a website is being developed to provide a central point of contact and information hub for CHSP and HACC PYP providers.  More information on the website will be available shortly.

The North Metro Sector Development Team have been resourced to support Northern Metro Community Care Alliance until 30th June, 2019. 

For further information or enquiries contact:
Christina Micallef - Regional Development Coordinator
christinam@hwpcp.org.au 0477 398 294
 

North Metro Region Access & Support Worker update


The Access and Support service helps people who have difficulty finding out about services or applying for the services they need due to their diversity.  Access and Support workers provide short term support for frail older people, people with a disability and their carers who:
  • Need help to stay living at home
  • Have diverse needs or circumstances
  • Need help to access services.
Click here to find out more about the Access and Support service and for an updated list of workers across the North Metro region.
 

Introduction of the CHSP, HACC PYP Issues Log


As part of the Sector Development and Change Management framework, DoH and DHHS have developed an Issues Log to capture information on the issues affecting multiple agencies or that may lead to market gaps during this period of transition and reform.  The North Metro Regional Development Coordinator will be managing and maintaining this log for North Metro funded agencies.

The RDC will triage presenting issues, seek further clarification and respond if required, capture any possible systemic issues, and discuss concerning trends with the Northern Metro Community Care Alliance Leadership Group.  Identified risks will be recorded and escalated to both the DoH and DHHS who will provide feedback to the RDC on the status of the issues identified.

This Issues Management strategy is intended to cover systemic issues relating to the CHSP, HACC PYP and sector development and change management in funded organisations.  It is not intended to replace existing issues management approaches already in place, such as for My Aged Care issues resolution processes, established complaints processes or advice from your Senior Program Advisor or Grant Agreement Manager. 

If you would like more information regarding the issues log or would like to raise an issue your team is experiencing, please contact:
 
Christina Micallef, North Metro Regional Development Coordinator
christinam@hwpcp.org.au or 0477 398 294.  
 

RESOURCES

The Support Loop Resource and YouTube Video

The Support Loop resource was designed to provide a feedback and monitoring framework to support organisations who have responsibility for HACC PYP and CHSP services delivered in the home or in a social support setting including home care, social support, home maintenance, transport and personal care. 
An initiative of the North Metro and West Metro Wellness and Reablement Consultants, The Support Loop recognises the vital role of Community Support Workers.  Community Support Workers work with people to meet their support plan goals whilst monitoring progress and providing feedback.   Effective monitoring and feedback ensures that support plans are appropriate, relevant and responsive to the changing needs and circumstances of the person.  Monitoring and feedback are also key components of the client review process, whether this is a service specific review or provision of feedback for a home support assessment review.

The Support Loop resource has been developed to provide HACC PYP and CHSP funded organisations with ideas and approaches for assessing their current practice and provides opportunities for improving monitoring and feedback communication systems.  These ideas and approaches, or essential elements as described in The Support Loop were contributed by the over 30 service providers who were involved in the development of the resource.

To support the introduction and implementation of The Support Loop across organisations we have recently developed a short YouTube video which demonstrates the benefits of The Support Loop for Community Support Workers.  

We hope the video will provide not only an orientation to The Support Loop, but will also be used as a discussion prompt for staff to consider their own feedback and monitoring processes.

Support Loop Resource (PDF)
Support Loop Video (YouTube)

For further information or enquiries contact:
Carolyn Bolton – North Metro Wellness and Reablement Consultant
carolynb@hwpcp.org.au  0499 784 465
More Wellness and Reablement resources can be found on our website at www.hwpcp.org.au/home-page/resources-ihp/asm-diversity/.

North Metro Sector Development Team Contacts


Carolyn Bolton
North Metro Wellness & Reablement Consultant
North Metro Sector Development Team Coordinator
0499 784 465
carolynb@hwpcp.org.au

Christina (CiCi) Micallef
North Metro Regional Development Coordinator
0477 398 294
christinam@hwpcp.org.au
 
Cathy Austin
Aboriginal Development Officer
9480 7739
cathya@aal.org.au
 
Bradley Hall
Administration Officer
0407 175 985
admin@hwpcp.org.au

The Home and Community Care program is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and Victorian governments

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Copyright © 2016, Hume Whittlesea Primary Care Partnership, Level 2, 61 Riggall Street, Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia. All rights reserved.

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Sector Support & Development: North Metro, West Metro, Loddon Mallee · PO BOX 218 · SUNBURY, VIC 3429 · Australia

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