A circle of support is a group of family and friends who work together to help create, promote and support the goals of a person with disability. The circle acts as a community of friendship and support around the person at the centre. Members can provide practical advice, solve problems and generate ideas to contribute to the person’s life. Circles do not : · replace the role of the family in a person’s life · Read more…
Your support staff may have some qualifications and experience in disability support, but they won’t know your family member. Here are some ideas for what training you might need to create for your staff to help them provide support that is specific to your family member. How to turn up to work on time and get paid Rosters Timesheets Payruns Payslips Leave Understanding job purpose, responsibilities and authorities The vision for your family member’s good Read more…
Tip #1 You don’t need any special equipment – just a smart phone with a video camera. Tip #2 Encourage staff to film things as they do them. Help them to develop a mindset of creating training for future staff. Tip #3 Do a rough and ready plan of what things you need to show in the video to make sure you capture them all. Tip #4 If you have a person speaking to camera, Read more…
Tip #1 The big fat training folder doesn’t work If you have created a training manual for your staff well done! That’s way better than nothing! But there are some problems with that big fat training folder. Firstly its not easily accessible. If your staff member is out and about with your family member and they forget how to do something like fold up their wheel chair and they don’t have the training folder with Read more…
The goal of induction training is to help the new staff member to understand the key systems and procedures they will need to follow and give them a sense of belonging in the team. Some of the key areas to include are: How to turn up to work on time and get paid Rosters Timesheets Payruns Payslips Leave Tools used in the workplace Timesheet tools Communication tools Rostering tools Building a relationship with the person Read more…
A group interview is when you invite all the candidates that have been selected to be interviewed from their applications to an interview at the same time. Candidates are given some activities to do so you can observe how they behave. Group interviews allow you to: See teamwork in action Test out their skills Spot potential leaders Activities might include: A learning activity – where you teach them to do a skill or task that Read more…
Through your networks Who do you already know that has the right personal qualities and skills that would suit the role? Who do you know that might have contact with people that could be suitable? If I was looking for a cooking mentor then I’d be thinking about all the people I know that enjoy cooking or who might know people that enjoy cooking. Examples might be: The guy that works at my local cafe Read more…
#1: Not promoting the talents of the person to be supported When writing a job advert it’s important to promote the great things about working with the person rather than focusing on the disability care aspects of the role. This will avoid inadvertently devaluing the person in a public way and also make the job attractive to potential candidates who may never have worked in disability that might have great skills. It also sets the Read more…