Maintaining independence – maximising mobility

When it comes to maintaining functional ability for residents whether in a retirement village setting or in an aged residential care facility, the input for a skilled Physiotherapist is a huge advantage in setting up strengths and balance or falls prevention programmes.

Getting in the support of that type of expertise is certainly going to help residents maximise their potential.  Not all professionals are created equal and physiotherapists are no different to other professionals!  How do you go about choosing a Physiotherapist though and what should you check for when selecting the right person to support physical therapy for your residents.

I asked local well know registered Physiotherapist Jessie Snowdon what she thought on this topic.  Here’s what she recommends:

How to choose a physiotherapist for your aged care facility.

Physiotherapists are a key member of the healthcare team in aged care facilities. Having physiotherapy input can improve quality of life for your residents, improve safety and lessen workloads of your care staff. Many physiotherapists are also able to offer moving and handling training onsite as part of their service.  Physiotherapists who are passionate about aged care are usually very special people – so how can you pick them?

This article is written with contracted physiotherapy services in mind but many aspects will apply to employing a physiotherapist directly.

Ask about their experience

In order to meet the varied needs of residents in aged care, physiotherapists need to have a broad clinical background. I would suggest that your physiotherapist should have experience in most of the following clinical areas.  Because this is a long list you should be seeking a physiotherapist with a minimum of 5 years’ experience – or actively supervised by a more senior colleague.

  • Orthopaedics
  • Neurology
  • Dementia (even if not working in a specific dementia facility)
  • Cardiac respiratory
  • Moving and handling
  • Basic seating and wheelchair assessment
  • Falls prevention
  • Arthritis
  • Chronic Pain
  • Pressure injury prevention

Ask about their professional development

To maintain registration in New Zealand, a physiotherapist must adhere to The Physiotherapy Board Code of Standards which is available to the general public here. They must also have a minimum of 100 hours CPD per 3 years, show evidence of reflective practice and have one professional peer review per 3 years. At On the Go Physio we require a peer review each year and active ongoing engagement with colleagues and professional development.

It is not uncommon for aged care facilities to directly contract a physiotherapist working as a sole trader. This can be an isolating role for a physiotherapist and it is important they regularly engage in professional development and in supervision and peer review.  If you are employing, rather than contracting, a physiotherapist you will need to budget for this as it is reasonable that you meet these costs.

Eight quick questions when choosing a physiotherapist contractor

As well as the right experience and compliance with physiotherapy regulations, contractor physiotherapists are also businesses in their own right (whether a sole trader or employee of a company) and need to operate as such. These are some legal requirements and compliance issues you should consider.

  1. Ask to see and maintain a copy of their Annual Practicing Certificate (APC – a new one will be issued annually and you should have a copy of this prior to 1st April of each year).
  2. Ask for a copy of their professional indemnity and public liability insurance certificates.
  3. Ask to view their (or their employers) health and safety policy.
  4. Ask if they undertake regular supervision or mentoring to help assure their own professional safety.
  5. Ask them to arrange for a colleague to undertake a clinical notes audit within 3 months of starting in the role and annually following this. Ask for a copy. (You may need to negotiate this and if there will be a cost it would not be unreasonable for you to consider paying this).
  6. How will they cover your facility during periods of leave.
  7. Are they a member of Physiotherapy New Zealand – this is not compulsory but demonstrates a dedication to their profession and provides development opportunities.
  8. What moving and handling training experience do they have? Will they be happy to provide training or will you need to contract those services separately.

This article was kindly contributed to by Jessie Snowdon – Director of On the Go Physio. On the Go Physio provide physiotherapy services to over 20 facilities in Christchurch and Moving and Handling training to many more facilities and the CDHB.

A further article will follow on how to set up a Physiotherapy service in your facility.

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Disaster Management should include security measures

This is a good time to be reminded that disaster management or your security policy may need to be extended to include management of threats, both internal and external to your organisation.  During the past years I’ve been personally involved with facilities where a resident entered the facility with a fire-arm, an intruder break-in during the night with a fire-arm, and another where intruders who entered the facility went into an occupied residents room. This last case related to intruders who had allegedly held-up the local bottle store earlier that same day.

Things happen which we don’t expect and we must be prepared as best we can.  It’s impossible to cover every possible eventuality but when events such as the shootings in Christchurch occur, it’s a reminder to ask are we doing enough?  For example, staff security rounds should be strictly enforced and documented to verify these were carried out. If you have surveillance cameras, where are your blind spots? If it’s the staff car park for staff going off duty late at night, improvements are desirable for staff safety. What about your processes for visitor verification? 

Security isn’t just about the people and environment but also about assets and information.  These should all be detailed in your policy documents.

HCSL are currently updating the security policies we provide ARC services to include reduction of risk from internal and external threats. This includes a procedure for lock-down. Let’s hope we never need to use it! 

For those of you wondering about how to debrief with your staff as a means to support them, there are some great resources available here.  For more resources on supporting others in relation to disaster type events, go here. 

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ANZAC day commemoration

On the 25th April each year we remember those who went before us to fight for the protection of others.  While emphasis is often on those who died in service to their country, it’s also a time to remember those who returned from war changed and altered forever by the experiences they’ve had.  Not just for the soldiers going and returning to war but their family.

The mother who describes holding her son as he heads off to the front line. Embracing him, breathing in his smell which a mother knows so well.  Holding her head against his chest hearing the beat of his heart wondering if she’ll ever be able to hold him and hear his heart beat again.  Feeling the harshness of the fabric of his uniform and wondering what other harshness he’ll encounter.

The soldier as a member of a family, not only left grieving mothers behind but were sometimes already parents themselves going off to war leaving wives and children behind.  All family members impacted in their own way from their own perspective of events.  How does a wife or child accept the decision of the men in their life going to war, to do ones duty leaving children wondering why they were being deserted in favour of the uncertainty of battle? Those children then growing older day by day until the time they themselves are in their 80’s and find themselves still welling up in tears at the memory of the day their father left to go to battle. Not understanding but seeing the change in the father who returns, different, distant and ill from the effects of sand breathed into his lungs while stationed in Egypt.  The soldier returning, having nightmares of horrors seen which cannot be unseen or forgotten. Limbs and body intact but emotional scars and ongoing adverse health issues.  Not all wounds are visible.   

I visited the Gallipoli exhibit at the Museum of New Zealand ‘Te Papa’ (our place) in Wellington with my mother and sister.  I was mesmerized and deeply affected by the raw emotion depicted in the models created for the exhibit by Weta Workshop. The image of this nurse, Staff Nurse Lottie Le Gallais who was on board the hospital ship Maheno which set out from Wellington. She’d hoped to catch up with her brother but the model shows the anguish of the moment she receives her returned letters to him saying “killed, return to sender”.  I can’t imagine the strength needed to sustain such pain amidst the anguish of war but still carry on to serve those needing care.

I live in Christchurch and after the recent terrorist attack resulting in the death of 50 people, we’re seeing and feeling the result of war-like destruction of life. You see it in the faces of those closely affected. The internal pain of senseless loss.

A time to ponder on the Anzac values of courage, compassion, commitment and comradeship and see if they are reflected in our own organisations as relevant to care services. This Thursday, 25th April, Anzac day is a time to reflect and be grateful – lest we forget.

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Culture Change in Long Term Care

Culture is a word we hear a lot and goes hand in hand with the concept of culture change.  In this article I’d like to touch on how to facilitate culture change and why it is beneficial to your long term care setting.  Let’s face it, aged residential care in New Zealand is changing rapidly and this impacts the experience of residents, staff and visitors to long term care settings. It impacts their desire to be in your care facility or to move somewhere else. This applies to be both residents and staff.  Families often choose the care provider for their elderly relatives.  What do they perceive when they visit you?

There are also barriers and challenges to creating and sustaining a definable and deliberate culture. The experience of the residents and staff is a result of the culture (behaviours) which should be aligned to your organisation values, mission and goals.  There are well publicised workforce shortages and high turnover of staff. Long term care is also in the middle of change from paper-based systems to electronic storage and management of information. The environment in which care is being provided is also changing through new construction of buildings from a institution to non-institutional. The atmosphere being created by those within the long term aged care residential setting is changing to a more relaxed feel.

Nursing care  and direct support is now also being provided within retirement village studios, apartments, villas, homes.  This means a change of not only the context of care.  Ensuring person centred care where each individual feels seen, heard and respected takes consistent focus and strong leadership.  Not always easy in a industry that is changing in so many ways. I wrote in a previous article on workplace culture that behaviours could be a better point of focus rather than simply focusing conversation on culture as a concept.

The behaviours which support a culture you can be proud of and one that sets you as an industry leader, require a long term focus and not just a one time exercise.  The strong leadership needed along with education and ongoing communication is key to setting a desirable culture.  Have you aligned your staff, management and Governance behaviours with your organisation vision and mission statements?  Behaviours reflect actions and they can be optimal actions, good actions, poor actions or non-action.  All will have an outcome which impacts the residents experience and determine how they feel about residing in your long term aged residential care setting.

For change to occur there needs to be a focus on improvement, a reason to change which residents and their families see as beneficial.  We tend to stick to doing what we’ve always done unless we can see a personal gain or something which provides a sense of satisfaction on a personal level.  What’s in it for me?  Culture change is not something that’s going to be achieved from a top-down approach. It’s going to take engagement from all levels of the organisation and create wins for those involved. Without perceived gains or wins, people stay stuck in old habits which don’t fit the new expectations of those seeking care and support.

If you’re the manager or CEO and delegate a ‘change management’ process to someone else, then expect to check in later to find wonderful results without your direct involvement and engagement, you may be disappointed.  Culture change is a team effort. To achieve change, everyone needs to participate.  They need to believe in the outcomes you’re trying to achieve with whatever strategies or initiatives you put in place.

Who is going to lead change?  There is an old saying that everything flows from the top down and this is also true of culture.  If the Board are dysfunctional then there should be no surprise when staff working at all levels of the organisation are dysfunctional. How is communication about strategies of change being done to gain buy-in? How are you going to measure your change initiatives to find out if you’ve been successful?  How are you going to ensure the desired culture is maintained?  There are a number of tools (mostly overseas based) which can be used to start this process. Here is a free online culture change assessment tool you could use.

What is the experience of your resident and your staff on a daily basis?  Would they recommend you to others in a way to reflects loyalty to your care facility as a preferred place to live or work? If not, what are you going to do about it?

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