Regional Forum Week 2022: Wrap Up

Written by Lauranne Beernaert, Sector Support Coordinator

Sector Support hosted their Regional Forum Week on 21-24 November 2022, with more than 120 participants from the Northern Sydney region and beyond. After 18 months since the Aged Care reforms were announced, this forum looked at concrete, actionable steps and planning that all service providers can do to prepare for the new In-Home Aged Care system.

Our generous speakers shared insights about:

• The new Aged Care Environment: transforming beyond the reforms, by Jennene Buckley, Enkindle Consulting
• Role of Organisational Culture in times of Change, by Justina Stromnes, Organisational Psychologist, Bendelta
• Strategic Planning for the Social Sector, by George Liacos – Founder and Chair, Spark Strategy
• Launch of In-Home Aged Care Workbook, by Lauranne Beernaert, SSD Team, Your Side

Key Takeaways for Aged Care Organisations

• The Aged Care changes are centred around government reforms, but the landscape is influenced by multiple factors such as: Consumer-driven environment, divergent demographics, omnipresence of the internet, increasing capabilities and expectations, P2P employment, partnerships and alliances, integrated care, increased transparency, and accountability.
• Each Aged Care organisation should ask themselves: what do we do to create value?
• Service delivery can be re-imagined: put your customers’ needs at the centre of everything you do, drive brand, product and improvement. It is an imperative for survival. To do this, it is essential to gather data (surveys, emails, chats, forums, social media, interviews, QR codes, etc).
• Workforce can be re–imagined too: roles and work design, organisational culture, recruitment processes, learning and development opportunities, technology that enables efficiencies.
• When doing strategic planning, it is crucial that organisations operationalise purpose: get the right people and resources together and aligned.
• Consumers and their lived experience must be at the centre of any strategy.
• Strategy does not have to be a complicated process – Strategy on a Page is a great start.
• Culture needs to be demystified – simply put, it is patterns of behaviours that are encouraged, discouraged, or tolerated over time. Everyone in the organisation is part of it, but leaders shape it.
• Where to start when it comes to culture?
  • Set standards and communicate them, do not tolerate less.
  • Shadow of a leader, look at yourself (the leader) first
  • Start small: change a habit by partnering a new behaviour with an existing activity.

Further reading:

• Spark Strategy White Papers, focused on topics such as impact measurement and sustainability
• Better Boards – resources for not for profits to improve board and governance
• Click here to view an example of strategy on a page
• The new In Home Aged Care Workbook