In this podcast NDS is joined by Sharon Paley, Founder of the Australian Centre for Restraint Reduction and Elimination to share some key information and tips with Disability Service Providers for Continuous Improvement.   This podcast shares:  The aims and benefits of continuous improvement  How to engage staff in continuous improvement  Embedding a continuous improvement approach  Resource list NDS Resources:    Risk, Incidents and Complaints Management Resources (nds.org.au) full library includes related resources for policy development, training resources for teams, resources in community languages and short films.  NDS Quality and Safeguards Sector Readiness Project - Continuous Improvement Tools  Leading to Address Occupational Violence - Just Culture (nds.org.au) is a recorded presentation for Board and Senior Leaders. Just Culture promotes: Speaking Up, Listening, Acting and Completing Feedback Loops.  NDS Quality Portal offers a free trial of the Portal. One of the many resources includes creating quality improvement plans from outstanding tasks to achieve compliance.  This podcast is part of the NDS Risk, Incidents and Complaints Management Project funded by the Australian Government. 

In this podcast NDS is joined by Kristie Walker, Director of On Track Investigations to share some key information and tips with Disability Service Providers for Planning Investigations in Disability Services. Investigations play a key role in providing safer and better-quality services by helping providers learn from mistakes and prevent future incidents. The process can also help with rebuilding trust and relationships when something has gone wrong.    This podcast shares: An overview of the 5 stages for Investigations A deep-dive on planning an investigation What an investigation plan should include How to identify and avoid challenges and barriers in the planning stage Working with unique challenges for small and medium providers Resource listNDS – Risk Incident and Complaints Resources:   NDS RICM Resource Library: Investigations includes: Policy and Procedure Checklists Investigations Guide Communcation Plan Action Plan Template and more Risk, Incidents and Complaints Management Resources (nds.org.au) full library includes related resources for policy development, training resources for teams, resources in community languages and short films. NDIS Commission Resources: The NDIS Commission Incident management (for all providers) includes an investigations section in the principles of good incident management and resolution. The NDIS Commission Practice Review Guidance Materials include a resources that can assist in investigations into systemic issues that may have led to an adverse outcome. This podcast is part of the NDS Risk, Incidents and Complaints Management Project funded by the Australian Government.

In this podcast NDS is joined by Dr Hayley Croft – University of Newcastle (UoN) and Adeline Tan – Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) to share some key information and tips with Disability Support Workers including: What polypharmacy is and when might workers identify polypharmacy Complications and challenges that may occur with polypharmacy Accessing government funded medication reviews including the Home Medicines Review and MedsCheck (Community Pharmacy) What to expect and how to support a person prepare for a medication review  Resource listMedication review programs:   Home Medicines Review - Pharmacy Programs Administrator (ppaonline.com.au)  MedsCheck and Diabetes Medscheck - Pharmacy Programs Administrator (ppaonline.com.au)  Resources:   Talking to my GP and pharmacist about my medicines, Medicines Advice Initiative Australia 2024  Me and my Medication – easy read, Council of Intellectual Disability 2024  Polypharmacy Practice Alert (PD and Word doc easy read version), NDIS Commission 2020  Practice Alert (Video resource) - Polypharmacy (youtube.com), NDIS Commission  2020 NDIS Commission Resources for people with disability: Resources for people with disability  Services:   1300 MEDICINE is a free Australian government-funded service staffed by pharmacists. 1300 MEDICINE is available by telephone (1300 633 424) to answer consumer questions about medicines and help consumers report adverse reactions to medicines and vaccines to TGA.   Health Direct: National Health Services Directory A national directory of health services and the practitioners who provide them General Practice, Pharmacy, Hospital including emergency department  Health Direct: Online medicines information service| Online medicines information service   Medicines and disability reports:   NDS Safety and Quality use of Medication Sector Round Table Report 2024 Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA): Medicine safety: disability care report 2021   NDIS Commission 2019 Report: Scoping review of causes and contributors to deaths of people with disability in Australia  This podcast is part of the NDS Positive Health Outcomes Project funded by the Australian Government.  

An annual comprehensive health assessment improves the detection of health needs, enables active management of those needs, and significantly reduces health risks and poor health outcomes. So how can you support people living with an intellectual disability access one? The CHAP tool is free and available to download from the Australia Government Department of Health and Aged Care at: Comprehensive Health Assessment Program (CHAP) – Annual Health Assessment for People with Intellectual Disability. www.health.gov.au/CHAP-adult (adult CHAP, 18 years +), www.health.gov.au/CHAP-YP (young person CHAP, 12 – 18 years).  If you’d like to learn more, check out the following NDS resources: Maximising use of the CHAP: A guide for the disability sector Government releases new CHAP for young people This podcast was produced with the support of the Victorian Department of Health.

Cervical cancer screening participation rates are lower among people with a disability than for the general population. Some women with disabilities may face barriers that make having a Cervical Screening Test harder to do. These barriers may include clinic accessibility, physical limitations, competing health needs, and informed consent. In this podcast, NDS talks with Judy Slape and Ayesha Ghosh from Cancer Council Victoria to learn more about cervical cancer screening and prevention. We are also joined by Nadia Garcia, Director of Disability Health at Yooralla, who shares her experience supporting people with disability access to cervical cancer screening and prevention and some common misconceptions that may get in the way of providing said support. If you’d like to learn more about cervical cancer screening and prevention, check out the following resources: www.hpvvaccine.org.au/disability People With Disabilities - Cancer Screening Hub (cancervic.org.au)  This podcast was produced with the support of the Victorian Department of Health.

This podcast explores the array of different roles available within the disability sector as well as common career pathways for workers to pursue. Get information to assess whether the disability sector would be a good fit for you. Learn more about the skills and qualifications you need to pursue a career in the disability sector. Explore different career pathway opportunities. In this podcast, Kym Vassiliou shares her own trajectory from working as an Account Manager in the IT sector to becoming a Senior Project and Engagement Officer in the Disability sector. The podcast explores the array of different roles available within the sector, avenues for professional development and progression, as well as common career pathways for entry level support workers to other careers in the disability sector such as support coordination and/or management.Learn more about the skills, qualifications, and personal qualities that would make you an excellent fit for working in disability and kickstart your career today.

In this NDS My COVID-19 Vaccination Journey Podcast, NDS Senior Policy and Projects Officer Tahlia Seedy speaks with Sonia, a person with a disability. Sonia talks about why their CVOD-19 vaccination was, and is, important to them. This is the highlights.

The NDS Entry to Care Roles project has trained and coached long-term unemployed job seekers into entry-to-care roles within the disability sector. In this podcast Louise Hillman from NDS chats with Rikky Baird from Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities Inc, better known as ADEC on how the ethnic diversity of the Entry to Care Roles students helps ADEC to find a match with their multicultural clients needing support workers.

The NDS Entry to Care Roles project has trained and coached long-term unemployed job seekers into entry-to-care roles within the disability sector. In this podcast Louise Hillman from NDS chats with Anthony Walsh, CEO of On-Call Training College about his experiences and what he learnt as a Register Training Provider with the Entry to Care Roles project. Anthony talks about how On-Call provided training that was flexible and could be adapted to the needs of the cohort. We also hear about the excitement when the trainers see the "Ah-Ha" moments when the students see a future working in disability. The Workforce Australia Local Jobs program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Tahlia Seedy from NDS chats with Ed Okuoga, State Manager Victoria, from Workforce Australia employment service providers Workskil Australia, about his experiences with the NDS Entry to Care Roles project and what he learnt. The Entry to Care Roles project is designed to support long-term unemployed job seekers into the disability workforce

Professor Prue Morgan, Head of Physiotherapy at Monash University speaks to Disability Sector Consultant Heather McMinn from National Disability Services about Falls prevention, the consequences from falling and how disability workers can reduce falls in disability care settings. This podcast was produced by National Disability Services, with funding from the Victoria State Government. Go to https://providers.dffh.vic.gov.au/practice-resources-0  to find falls resources for disability service providers.

Professor Bronwyn Hemsley, Professor of Speech Pathology at the University of Technology Sydney speaks to Disability Sector Consultant Heather McMinn from National Disability Services about safe and enjoyable mealtimes and supporting NDIS participants with swallowing difficulties.   This podcast was produced by National Disability Services, with funding from the Victoria State Government.

Reece Adams, Head of the Centre for Developmental Disability Health, Monash Health, speaks to Disability Sector Consultant Heather McMinn from National Disability Services about deteriorating health in disability care settings, what disability workers should look for and how they can respond.   Reece and Heather also talk about supporting resources, including a new deteriorating health poster for disability group homes. Go to https://providers.dffh.vic.gov.au/practice-resources-0 to download the poster ‘Deteriorating health – a poster for disability group homes’ . This podcast was produced by National Disability Services, with funding from the Victoria State Government.

In this NDS My COVID-19 Vaccination Journey Podcast, NDS Senior Policy and Projects Officer Tahlia Seedy speaks with Rhino, a person with a disability. Rhino talks about his personal journey and why his COVID-19 vaccination was, and is, important to him.

In this NDS My COVID-19 Vaccination Journey Podcast, NDS Senior Policy and Projects Officer Tahlia Seedy speaks with Sonia, a person with a disability. Sonia talks about why their COVID-19 vaccination was, and is, important to them. This is the full episode.

NDS Sector Consultant Graeme West looks at the Disability Royal Commission and outlines the theme and issues of interest to Australian Disability Organisation Boards and CEOs.

Disability providers overcame many significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now must work out how to prepare for a future with COVID-19 as an endemic disease.

Safer and Stronger - Yooralla CEO Terry Symonds talks with NDS Victoria State Manager Sarah Fordyce about how Yooralla has prepared for dealing with COVID-19 as an endemic disease.

There are concerns about COVID-19 vaccination rates for children with disability in the 5-11 years age group, particularly as Australia heads into winter. In this podcast, NDIS participant Leo and his mother Marika, share their experience with Leo’s COVID-19 vaccination, what steps they took to make it easier for Leo and why they think getting vaccinated is important.Information about COVID-19 vaccines for people with disability and people who work in the disability sector is available from the Department of Health.People with disability, families, carers, and support workers can contact the Australian Government Disability Gateway for information and referrals about coronavirus (COVID-19).The Disability Gateway is free, private, and fact-checked.

Infection prevention control consultant Bruce Greaves shares his insights and tips from supporting frontline workers within COVID outbreak environments.Part 2 focuses on PPE gowns, face-shields, reusable PPE, airflow and role of vaccination.Correct use of face masks videos are available on the NDS website, see PPE in the Infection Prevention Control Toolkit.