You can’t pour from an empty cup
It’s a classic saying when it comes to wellbeing. Looking after residents’ wellbeing is always front and centre for the team members at Radius Care. So reflecting on their wellbeing was the perfect place to start an upskilling journey.
The programme kicks off with a focus on Te Whare Tapa Whā and 5 Ways to Wellbeing and rolls out in Radius Care homes around the country, including Radius Care facilities in Paihia, Tauranga and Hamilton.
Supported by the Tertiary Education Commission’s Workplace Literacy and Numeracy Fund, the programme was codesigned with Radius Care staff members. It features communication, digital literacy, and numeracy at its heart.
For the role of a health care assistant, the communication demands are numerous, whether it’s updating a family member on a resident’s day or writing case notes in the care system, so sessions were all based around highly relevant content for the HCA teams.
Radius wanted to set its teams up for success in the following key areas:
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- Embracing digital confidence to engage with the Radius learning management system and future career progression
- A focus on New Zealand English both in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary for multilingual staff including conversational English
- Confidence reading and understanding key policies
- Completing forms comprehensively and recording important information
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Participant Marjon Van Hoof from Radius Baycare Paihia found the programme very useful.
“Upskills made me feel a bit more proud of myself. It is good to be listened to and know people are supporting you,” she says.
Althorp Facilities Manager Nancy McGregor says the lift in confidence has been huge.
“In the beginning, I could barely get a word out (of the participants), now I’m so impressed with the communication”. More than that, staff now have the confidence to speak up. “The confidence and the willingness to step up and just speak out if they do find something not right, they now have the confidence come and speak to me,” says Nancy.
Radius Care Learning and Development Manager Catherine Escol says the learning has also rippled into the learners’ personal lives.
“It’s really amazing once the staff start to work with it and they now see the application of the things that they are learning and how it can be applied to work and their personal life.”
For other participants, the course has built connections and value diversity.
“I have learned about others’ cultures and how they add value to their life. Communicate with each other – talk, speak up and listen too. How to work towards your goal, the steps you need to climb to achieve them.”
“I have learned a lot of things about values today and how we apply it to ourselves and our work.”
“I have learned different approaches and how they impact myself and others. Things I have to do to improve myself. Never give up hope. We can always do it, we just have to build self-esteem.”
Upskills facilitators Julia Bruce Mayne and Jeanette Lask say there have been many highlights.
“The best thing about teaching this programme has been hearing how much the participants care about the residents and the important work they do. Helping them to build on their strengths and gain confidence to further their competence in their roles has been a privilege,” says Julia, who has worked with participants in Tauranga and Hamilton.
Jeanette says a highlight for her group in Paihia was digital learning.
“All the learners, including a lady in her 70s, embraced the new technology including joining the WhatsApp group, using Google slides and Jotform,” she notes. “But the most important thing was not being afraid to give it a go and we created that feeling in our group.”
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