Workforce Innovation: Caring for Older People Program

The Caring for Older People (CfOP) program was formally commenced in July 2010 and completed in June 2011 with the finalisation of 19 projects undertaking different aspects of workforce redesign in a variety of settings to contribute to the overall learnings for workforce reform in caring for older people.

The evaluation and analysis of the projects findings, plus their contribution to and evaluation of the ‘whole of workforce’ models in three themes across the continuum of health and aged care, and a case study of the design and conduct of national  change programs using CfOP as an example are being written up for consideration in 2012.

Findings from the  CfOP program together with other evidence  of what works is being used to support the HWA Aged Care Workforce Reform project 2012-2013.

Description and Objectives

The Caring for Older People Program aims to demonstrate and evaluate major shifts in the aged care workforce to improve the future supply and adaptability of the workforce for the care of older Australians. The project aims to enhance the capacity and capability of the workforce to improve older peoples’ health service experience and outcomes.

The enablers, barriers and impediments to a future sustainable workforce will be explored and articulated with recommendations for policy change where required.

The CfOP program has been designed to test a number of hypotheses whilst using the best available evidence regarding major transformational change at three interconnected levels.

20 projects have been selected on the basis of their capacity to deliver and the strength of the innovation proposed, while representing the range of organisational characteristics and boundary issues. They will trial a range of strategies, exploring various scopes of practice, in an effort to work towards the optimal use of current workforce skills and adaptability.

Those projects will also be assigned to one of three aged care theme ‘workforce collaboratives’ spanning the continuum of care. Collectively they will take a systems focus to model a whole of workforce profile for the specific theme aggregating project data, jurisdictional initiatives, expert opinion and describing the systems linkages and enablers. Underpinning this is the program’s investment in capacity building for leadership for change through dedicated change managers and knowledge transfer. 

At program level the impact of the workforce shifts and productivity gains will be modeled to establish the most cost effective workforce intervention for that target consumer needs, for implementation at a national level.

Engagement of stakeholders throughout the 12 month program, particularly jurisdictional workforce and aged care policy, aged care peak bodies and associations will ensure readiness and ownership for national uptake of positive findings.

In 2010, HWA awarded grants to twenty organisations around Australia.

Workforce Innovation: Caring for Older People Program Learning Modules

Sustainability of workforce reform is partly reliant on the capacity of its people for leadership and change.

To support the Caring for Older People Program the HWA team has provided resources for coaching, mentorship and learning sets at workshops continuously through the 12 month projects (July 2010-June 2011). Additionally the team has developed  a series of learning modules to support the capacity building requirements.

HWA presents three Learning Modules used to coach for success in project, evaluation, risk and change management for wider dissemination and adoption. These are available to download in pdf format below:

1. A method for Functions and Competencies Mapping (.pdf)
2. Managing Change (part 1) (.pdf)
3. Writing a Case Study to capture conditions under which results were tested (.pdf)

If you have any queries regarding the program please lodge them using the online form.

Caring for Older People: questions and comments

If you have any questions regarding the CfOP program, please use the online form.

Further Information

Tel: 1800 707 351

Log in to the Caring for Older People Forums

Please note: you must be a registered user to access the Caring for Older People program forums.  Please register for the CfOP forum if you have not already done so.