Care Academy Blog

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Care Academy is pleased to announce the launch of a dedicated suite of e-learning courses designed to enable Scottish care providers meet their obligations when providing induction training to new care workers.

Based upon The Scottish Social Service Council (SSSC) 'Preparing for Practice' guidance, Care Academy's e-learning offers a comprehensive range of course's including:

Course 1
Preparing for Practice – Introduction

• Welcome to the Organisation.
• Values of Care.
• Support and Supervision.

Course 2
Introduction to Social Service Practice (Pt 1)

• Your Role as a Carer.
• Personal Care.
• Worker Relationships.
• Person Centred Planning.
• Risk Assessment.

Course 3
Introduction to Social Service Practice (Pt 2)

• Adult Support and Protection.

Course 4
Introduction to Social Service Practice (Pt 3)

• Communicating Effectively.
• Principles of Good Record Keeping.

Course 5
Preparing For Practice - Service Specific issues

• Death, Dying and Bereavement.
• Effects of the Service Setting.
• Intro to Dementia.
• Intro to Autism.
• Intro to Mental Health.
• Intro to Learning Disabilities.

Course 6
The Workplace 1 - Moving and Handling

• Introduction to Moving and Handling.
• Moving and Handling of Objects.
• Theory of People Moving.

Course 7
The Workplace 2 - First Aid

• Principles of First Aid.
• Vital Statistics - Basic Life Support.
• Practical First Aid.
• Consciousness.
• Administration.

Course 8
The Workplace 3 - Safety at Work

• Introduction to Health and Safety.
• Fire Safety.

Course 9
The Workplace 4 - Infection Prevention and Control

• Overview of how infections spread.
• Types of infection and how they are transmitted.
• Good hygiene.
• Hand washing procedures.
• Needle-stick – risks and precautions.
• Needle-stick – what to do should you have an accident.

Course 10
The Workplace 5 - Safe Handling of Medication

• Legislation.
• Policies and Procedures.
• Drug Classifications.
• Routes of Administration.
• Risk Assessments.
• The 5 Rights.
• Storage and Disposal.

Course 11
The Workplace 6 - Safe Food Hygiene

• Legislation.
• Policies and Procedures.
• The importance of Food Safety.
• Your Responsibilities.
• Food Poisoning.
• Food-Bourne Disease.
• Bacteria.
• Food Contaminants and Prevention of Illness.
• Temperature Control.
• Food Storage.
• Personal Hygiene.
• Reporting Illness.
• Cleaning Methods.
• Refuse and Waste Management.

To discuss how Care Academy can help transform your organisation please contact us on 0161 228 1712 or via our online form form.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Since the launch of the 'Putting People First' many organisations have been struggling to understand what exactly 'Personalisation' means and more importantly how to plan and implement changes accordingly.

'Making It Personal: A Provider's Journey From Tradition to Transformation' provides a fascinating insight into how leading learning disability provider 'Dimensions' has re-invented itself to meet the challenges in delivering 'Personalisation'.

'Since 2008, Dimensions has been grappling with the challenge of delivering personalised services. Leaving aside the debate about the future of residential care, they decided to transform their organisation to one that responds flexibly to individuals with a budget who will want bespoke support. Dimensions felt that if they did not consider and respond to the shift in power from the professionals to the customer, they would not survive.'

Written by Executive Director Steve Scown, the tone is charmingly frank and open detailing;

'how Dimensions changed what they offer people and their families by breaking down every aspect of their ’bundled’ support packages. He talks about developing a more sophisticated cost model for one-off, fixed-term and on-going personalised support components. He also explains how Dimensions is developing a web portal that means everyone - the people they employ, the people they support and their families - will all have the same means of accessing all information.'

This book is essential reading for anyone grappling with putting 'Personalisation' into practice and provides reassurance that you are not alone!

Friday, November 06, 2009

Towards Maturity is an independent, not for profit organisation with a passion for helping others to improve the impact of learning technologies at  work. The site provides access to a wide range of useful research, resources and case studies aimed at helping individuals and organisations wishing to introduce technology into their learning strategies.

Not surprisingly, the most popular download from the site is: 'What every L&D professional needs to know about e-learning' which is described as follows;

'The free 20-page booklet, helps trainers to understand just how extraordinary the opportunities are for improving the impact, accessibility, flexibility, timeliness, cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness of learning and development interventions. And most importantly of all, it shows trainers how they can play a vital role in bringing this all about.'

We think everyone will find the site really useful and the booklet provides a good insight into how different organisations are integrating technology into their business.