Annual Review and Quality of Care Report

20142015

About us.

Carrington Health is a leading community health organisation caring for over 10,000 people every year.

Covering a broad area across the eastern suburbs, we are committed to providing high quality, holistic and innovative health services that support people to live healthier, happier lives.Carrington Health

43 Carrington Road, Box Hill 3128 Tel: (03) 9890 2220 Fax: (03) 9898 8010 info@carringtonhealth.org.au info@carringtonhealth.org.au www.facebook.com/carringtonhealth www.linkedin.com/company/3329761

MIDNIGHT

MIDDAY

9.20amOccupational Therapist Home Visit to fit shower rails.

9am3pm

6pm

9pm

9.40amChinese Friends of Health meeting.

10.00amWalking Group.

10.40amHydrotherapy Session

10.48amPodiatry Home Visit to review wound care

10.55amOral Health Screening session

11.05amSafe injecting training session delivered to EasternHealth Staff

11.30amGym program, heart health group, diabetes support group sessions.

12.50pmSupermarket Tour

2.33pmMen’s Shed making toys to donate to local play group

2.52pmEmergency Dental Appointment

10.30amTransporting client to first social group session

Balwyn EvergreenCentre, Balwyn

3.40pmPublic Housing – planting seeds in garden beds

4.02pmNurse in session for client in Quit Smoking program

4.18pmSpecialised family violence counselling session

4.35pmPartnership meeting

5.32pmPaediatric speech therapy session in clients home

8.00pmSession 2 – Baby Makes 3program being run withsix families

10.50pmDelivery of injecting equipment by mobile drug safety worker

1.03pmFalls prevention teleconference

Carrington Health,Box Hill

Nadrasca, Nunawading

Coles, Box Hill Central

Clients aged care facility

Box Hill Hospital,Box Hill

Special DevelopmentSchool

Tucker Road,Vermont

Surrey Park,Box Hill

Healthways Aquatic Centre,Mont Albert

Carrington Health,Box Hill

Barbara Street,Nunawading

Carrington Health,Box Hill

Wattle Hill, Burwood

Carrington Health,Box Hill

Carrington Health,Box Hill

The Hub, Box Hill Town Hall

Kindergarten,Burwood East

Melbourne City Council, Melbourne

Shopping Centre carpark, Lilydale

VOCATIONS

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Health

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Allied hea

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Med

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Comm

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Nurse

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Paediat

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Physiothera

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Volunteers

Occupati

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Mobile

drug sa

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Psych

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Corporat

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Nutritio

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Speech

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Podiatris

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Our Services We provide a range of community and facility based services, to enable the people we support to increase their quality of life.

Ageing Well

We support people to meet the challenges they face later in life by providing allied health services and group programs.

Supporting people

We support people to develop skills to live active, inclusive and healthy lives.

Building Life Skills

Offering innovative and collaborative services we support individuals, their families and carers to develop knowledge and skills to better manage their health.

Strengthening Families

We ensure children, young people and their parents have the support to care for themselves, their children and each other through early intervention programs and a wide range of services.

Oral Health

We provide general and emergency dental care and oral health promotion to all ages. The program offers specialised services to children and adults with special needs and those living in supported residential care.

Therapy

Occupational therapists, speech pathologists, physiotherapists and psychologists provide individual and group services to both children and adults to help people take part in everyday life.

Integrity Equity

Innovation

CollaborationActively engaging with others

to achieve better outcomes

Generating innovative ways of thinking and doing things better

Honesty, respect and being

responsible for our actions

Supporting individual

circumstances to enable access to

opportunities

Living our values

Contents

Our Services

From our Chair and CEO 2

Our Board 4

Our People 5

Working with passion 5

Fiona’s story 5

Our Volunteers 6

Corporate Volunteering 6

Caring for our Community 7

Leading the Way 7

Ray’s Story 8

Preventing falls in our community with IFAS 9

Integrated Diabetes Education and 10

Assessment Service

Baby Makes 3 11

Caring for our community 12

Chinese Friends of Health 12

Caroline & Matthew 13

Dementia Access and support Program 13

Changing Lives 14

Transforming lives through Refresh Program 15

Continuity of Care through the NSP Program 16

Young Moves 17

Seeds of Change 18

Oral Health Program 19

Progress through partnerships 20

Partnership Case Study (NEAMI) -

Partnering for best results 23

Quality of care report 24

Our Community Advisory Group 25

Accreditation Update/Review 25

Clinical Indicators – Dental 26

Infection Control 27

New Autoclave Sterilizing Machine – 27

Bigger, Faster, Easier & “Greener”

Feedback 27

Victorian Community Health Indicators 27

People Matters Survey results 27

Acknowledgements

We respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we work. We pay our respects to community members and elders, past and present.

Thank you to the consumers, staff, Community Advisory Group (CAG), volunteers and others who contributed to the content and design of the report.

Photography: Courtesy of Disruptive Media and Carrington Health unless stated otherwise.

Design: Disruptive Media – disruptivemedia.com.au

Interpreter service and translationsCarrington Health is committed to providing accessible services to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Upon request this document can be translated or we can arrange an interpreter.

Acknowledgements

We were proud to receive two Whitehorse Excellence in Business Awards for 2014: The Excellence in Business Award for a Community Organisation and the Mayoral Award for Business Growth and Development.

Meeting community needs

Our Service Plan provides a clear roadmap for Carrington Health, outlining our ability to determine, develop and deliver cost-effective services. Such services are delivered in the community and designed to equip people to build skills for healthier, happier lives through prevention and early intervention programs.

Strengthening our ability to deliver support to a growing number, Carrington Health is building a sustainable service model based on responsible financial management: committing funding and resources for sustainable growth.

This last year has seen exciting growth in services to support all life stages. We have expanded our prevention and early intervention programs by providing additional services which help to:

• Meet the challenges people face later in life – our Integrated Falls Assessment Service (IFAS) brings together a specialist geriatrician and allied health clinicians to prevent falls in those most at risk, including people living in aged care facilities.

• Assist people living with a disability to live active, inclusive and healthy lives – providing oral health screening and allied health services to people living in supported residential services and community residential units.

• Support people to better manage their long term health issues – with programs that target risk factors, such as obesity or inactivity, and helping to manage diabetes or heart health.

• Respond to social and wellbeing issues being experienced by people in vulnerable circumstances – our Men’s Shed participation in The Avenue Neighbourhood House’s ‘Refresh program’ aims to get early school leavers back on track through mentoring and training. This has proved to be a mutually beneficial program for both the men and the early school leavers.

• Strengthen health and wellbeing outcomes for children, young people and families – our new counselling services, oral health for young people in out of home care, and new headspace outreach service are all providing much needed help to families, young people and children.

• Make it easier for people to access our services including starting after hours options, telehealth services and services funded via medical benefit scheme (MBS) payment options.

Our future

Carrington Health is responding to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and aged care reforms by continuing our support of people affected by these changes. This changing landscape requires a robust organisation to ensure we continue to improve the way we support people.

We are particularly proud of our programs that have been delivered beyond the eastern metropolitan region, including Baby Makes 3. This is recognition of our knowledge and expertise and the relevancy of our programs across Victoria.

Working in partnership

The success of our work lies in the strength of our partnerships and we thank the many organisations and communities that work with us. In August 2014, the collective Boards of Inner East, Manningham, MonashLink and Whitehorse announced the creation of a formal Consortium ‘Connect4Health’ to further strengthen and extend an already collective partnership. In addition, we were instrumental in forming the ‘Community Health Collective’, bringing together twelve independent, not-for-profit organisations that have agreed to partner to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the northern and eastern metropolitan regions of Melbourne.

Our dedicated team

None of our work would be possible without the exceptional work of our dedicated staff. They are a group of people who are passionate and committed to seeing real change in the people they work with and the community. We thank them for their continued work. We also thank our incredible volunteers who continually go above and beyond, and without whom we wouldn’t achieve all that we do. We also acknowledge and thank all the directors for their unstinting work on the Board and the numerous board committees which play an important oversight role, freeing the board to focus on strategic matters. We would particularly like to acknowledge the outstanding commitment and contribution of Marilyn Forde, who will retire at the next AGM after 11 years of service, including her role as Deputy Chair.

We are excited to share this report and our achievements over the last twelve months – we hope it gives you an insight in the work we do and the people we work with.

From our Chair and CEO

As we reflect over the last year, we are struck by the care and commitment of our extraordinary team to prioritise our efforts towards making a positive impact to those most in need and at greatest risk.

We set our sights on four key goals: increasing our focus on the client experience; improving our communication of client outcomes; continually improving our services and introducing new services and initiatives.

In order to achieve these goals and plan for the long term future we developed our Service Plan for 2030. This strategy shows that we are working hard to stay in touch with our local community and adapt to their changing needs. In addition to our strategy development, we launched a new name and identity for ourselves: Carrington Health.

Ronda Jacobs CEO

Dr Kathleen Brasher Chairperson

2. 3.

Carrington Health is a public company governed by a Board. The directors, who are unpaid, are reponsible for acting in the best interest of Carrington Health, its staff and its clients.

“ The health and wellbeing of the whole community matters to me. I think we are all better off as a community if all of us can flourish. To do that, people need access to affordable, meaningful health care. Being on the Board is my contribution to making that a reality.”

Kathleen Brasher, Chair

“ I continue to participate as a member of the Carrington Health Board because I believe I still have more to contribute to the achievement of our mission and purpose. Carrington Health is going from strength to strength and I want to work with others to develop new ways to meet the needs of our clients and to serve our community.”

Geoff Lavender

“ As a former community based clinician, I consider my role as a Board director a privilege. Now in a position of governance, I am able to provide strategic oversight, supporting the management team and staff to deliver safe, high quality and diverse services for the local community. This important work makes a real difference to the wellbeing of the community because it is local and accessible with a focus on optimising health outcomes. I see this as the future of health care services because it is cost effective and efficient and this is my motivation to continue to participate on the Board”

Michelle Kotis

“ After I left a fairly insular existence in corporate life and started my own business, I really became aware of just how great a need there is in my community for people to reach out to others and offer a hand up rather than a hand out. I had been involved in business groups, Rotary and the Red Shield Appeal in Whitehorse when I was asked to join the Board of the then Whitehorse Community Health Service. My passion for working with people and adding value to my community was strengthened by being able to join the Board of Carrington Health. Knowing that our work makes a difference to the community in so many ways is why I stay involved.”

Ross Mitchell

“ I wanted to learn and be able to contribute to an industry which is critical in shaping a healthy, inclusive and progressive society.”

Greg Oliver

“ I wanted to contribute in a sustainable manner to a community that is so diverse and has constantly evolving needs.”

Charissa Feng

“ My interest in Community Health began when I was with the Lions Club. Joining the Carrington Health Board has given me an opportunity to offer my services to the Box Hill community. It has been a humbling and fulfilling experience to make a contribution and be of assistance to the community”

Garfield Lee

“ Without access to good healthcare, people’s lives are shorter and their opportunities to enjoy the life they have are reduced. I felt I could learn from the experience, but more importantly influence policy and make decisions so that more people could access the services we offer.”

Marilyn Forde

Our Board

Working with passion

Our passionate and professional staff are at the heart of what we do and play a vital role in our ability to support people in the community. Our staff want to see the best outcomes for the clients they’re working with.

We have 142 staff working across four programs and eleven services. We invest in them through learning and development, health and wellbeing programs, engagement surveys, celebration days and recognition throughout the year.

Our people

Fiona is a highly valued member of the Ageing Well team. She has worked as an Occupational Therapist for over fifteen years.

“ It’s so rewarding to work with clients and their families who may be struggling with their health and the impact of that on their life. I can be there as part of their journey towards making a change. Be it training someone in a wheelchair to access public transport again, modifying a home to help someone reduce their risk of falls, supporting someone to take up a physical activity program or providing advice about equipment that may enhance independence – my job is different from person to person and from one day to the next. I am proud of the services that Carrington Health offers and it’s great to be part of the team.”

About Fiona

4. 5.

Our Volunteers

In February 2015, we strengthened our existing volunteer program with the addition of our Volunteer Manager. The program recruits, trains, mentors and supports volunteers. Carrington Health is a member of peak volunteer body Volunteering Victoria.

In total, 76 volunteers contributed over 4000 hours to Carrington Health from January to October this year. Most volunteered at the Men’s Shed, Chinese Friends of Health and the Community Advisory Group, although volunteers work across health promotion teams and in our food security project at Wattle Hill.

An exciting new development has been the introduction of Reception Support Volunteers to help our busy reception team with administration and client assistance.

We extend a huge thank you to our amazing volunteers who show us overwhelming generosity. Our volunteers share our values and are committed to making a real difference to the community.

Corporate Volunteering

We recognise the value of corporate volunteering and are proud to be partnering with the National Australia Bank. The bank’s staff have been volunteering in different ways: through project roles as well as providing training and skills development for our organisation.

Our People

Carrington Health leads the community health sector through its enterprising partnerships and proven service models. Carrington Health’s innovative programs benefit people who are at risk, as well as our broader community, whilst reducing hospital-based admissions.

Leading the way

76volunteers gave over

4,000 hours

JAN - OCT 2015

6. 7.

Ray’s health issues and his history of having fallen already, increase his risk of falling again.

Ray’s doctor referred him to the newly launched Integrated Falls Assessment Service (IFAS) which aims to provide a coordinated and comprehensive assessment for people who are at risk of a fall.

“ I got to see the Geriatrician and the Physio on the same day, in the same place where I do my exercise now.”

The Geriatrician undertook a full assessment of Ray’s overall health, including medications he was taking. The Physiotherapist focused on his balance and mobility.

Together with Ray, they worked to create his personal action plan to improve his balance and mobility. This action plan involved participation in Carrington’s ‘Heart Health’ exercise program as well as undertaking exercises at home. “I get monitored when I exercise and this information can go back to my doctor and to my cardiologist – so everyone knows what’s going on.”

Ray recently had his four month evaluation with IFAS and he has improved on all the baseline performance measures captured by the IFAS Physiotherapist. This is fantastic news for Ray and his family because these improvements mean changes in everyday life.

“ Since seeing the team, doing the exercises in my program and working out at the gym I am walking much better. I used to drag my feet but I am now more conscious of how I am walking. The exercises help me keep on top of everything. The gym also provides a place for people to do exercises they might not be able to do, or feel safe doing at home.”

Ray plans on attending the gym as long as he can and enjoys the social side of exercise as well as the physical benefits.

“ I am involved in playing bowls and still keep up with volunteering. I feel much more confident about getting out and about with my wife and can enjoy doing things again, without always worrying about falling.”

Leading the way Leading the way

Direct access to a joint Geriatrician and Physiotherapist assessment – with access to other services offered by Carrington Health if needed.

Team approach to falls prevention, including the person’s doctor, working together to ensure the best health outcomes for the individual.

People living in aged care facilities can also access the service – consultations provided remotely through ‘telehealth’ via the internet.

IFA

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One third of people aged over 65 fall each year

Half of all people living in an aged care facility fall each year.

Did

you

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8. 9.

Preventing falls in our community - Ray’s story

Like a lot of older people in our community, Ray needs to manage a number of health problems.

“ I was dragging my feet and had shaky arms and legs. I would get out of breath which slowed my walking down. After I had a fall last Christmas my family took note. I didn’t hurt myself but had lots of trouble getting up. After that I found out that as well as a heart condition, I also had Parkinson’s disease.”

Integrated Diabetes Education and Assessment Service (IDEAS)

Carrington Health sought to create a service that would support and encourage people with diabetes to manage their general health, prevent complications and live active healthy lives – delivered in a community setting. In partnership with Eastern Health Endocrinology, Carrington Health created the IDEAS program in order to fulfil this objective.

IDEAS provides specialist medical, nursing and allied health assessment and care for people with type 2 diabetes in one location where expert staff are on hand, wait times are short and people are empowered to become ‘self-managers’. In 2012 IDEAS was recognised by the Victorian Healthcare Association Annual Award 2012 for its outstanding contributions in the field of Victorian public healthcare.

Key achievements this year

This year we received the results of the program study: Building the evidence in chronic disease: IDEAS evaluation study. It was a randomised control trial and cross sectional study and is among one of the few primary health care settings to undergo such a study in Australia. The study was published in the Australian Journal of Primary Care and was presented at the Australian Disease Management Association National conference in Brisbane in September 2015.

Carrington Health partnered with Eastern Health, EACH-Knox, The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and The Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes – Deakin University in order to complete this work. We thank those involved on the governance group, as well as DHHS and Eastern Health for the funding support provided.

We wanted to know if our service got results and could ‘hold its own’ when compared to services within the hospital outpatient setting. The results were very pleasing, showing IDEAS made real differences for people including:

• Reducing their important clinical measure of HbA1c (blood sugar);

• Reducing their levels of diabetes distress; and

• Improving people’s sense of self-efficacy.

In terms of IDEAS being provided within a community setting, people were significantly more satisfied with their quality of care compared with an outpatient hospital setting.

“ I am really happy with the professional standard of care and follow up with all areas. Having all my care providers for my diabetes at the same place is good - as each can access my file to see how I’m going.”

“ I think the care plan is terrific. The doctor and other staff are involved in helping me and are supportive of my aims.”

Baby Makes 3

The arrival of a baby can be a time of great joy. It is also a time of great change for parents. Carrington Health’s Baby Makes 3 program aims to support parents during this important life stage by helping them maintain equal and respectful relationships during the transition to parenthood.

Baby Makes 3 is a three-week group program for first-time parents. It is run by Maternal and Child Health services, as an extension of their New Parent Group program. The sessions are delivered by a male and female facilitator and cover a variety of health relationship topics.

Baby Makes 3 is rated highly by participants. Parents report that the program provided insights, improved their relationship by providing communication tools and opened up conversations at home as well as providing an opportunity for dads to meet with each other.

The last year has seen considerable growth for Baby Makes 3. The program is currently being delivered in 19 councils, with an additional seven councils planned. While responding to the rapid expansion of the program has been challenging, Carrington Health is committed to leading and supporting a state-wide rollout of the program within Maternal Child Health (MCH) services.

Carrington Health was funded to deliver Baby Makes 3 in the eastern metropolitan region. This three-year project is due for completion in December 2015. Deakin University and Keleher Consulting have undertaken an extensive evaluation, which will guide the future directions of the program. The final evaluation report will be available in early 2016.

“ Baby Makes 3 has given parents an opportunity to strengthen and reassess their relationships after the birth of their baby” MCH Coordinator

“ The program has prompted us to have conversation we otherwise wouldn’t have had”, Dad

“ It was helpful to focus on how our relationship has changed and to find ways to work together to keep the family healthy and balanced”, Mum

Leading the way Leading the way

108groups delivered

1305parents attended Baby Makes 3

26facilitators trained

Thus far, within the eastern metropolitan region:

10. 11.

Children’s Services Caroline and Matthew’s story

Caroline’s son Matthew was first referred to Carrington Health for a stutter he had.

“ We only waited a short time to see the speech pathologist. Since then Matthew has also been referred to the occupational therapist for fine motor and gross motor therapies, the social circle and the school readiness program.”

“ I think Matthew is a much more confident little boy now and is happy to try new experiences that he would not have attempted in the past. He has good rapport with all the therapists and is always happy to go and ‘play’.”

Caroline appreciates how fortunate she and her family have been in being connected to all the services that Carrington Health has to offer, without the concerns of ‘can we afford this?’

“ They are all very professional people, who have continued to meet Matthew’s needs as they have evolved.” Caroline has also benefited from her own learning experiences working with these professionals, “I feel much more confident helping Matthew at home, and dealing with issues as they arise.”

“ I feel very lucky to have been referred to Carrington Health, I know how important it is for Matthew that he was assessed early, and is now receiving professional assistance to help both him and our family.”

Dementia supportAnne’s story

“ My name is Anne and I work with people with dementia and their carers. I recently worked with a lady called Mary. She is 77 years old. She’d been diagnosed with dementia two years earlier. She’d given up driving 12 months ago and was dependent on her daughter to support her at home, providing meals and taking her shopping. But her daughter worked full time and lived over an hour away.

I was present when Mary had her Council assessment so I was able to support her to understand that the services she was going to be receiving were all about keeping her in her home and also to support her daughter.

Mary decided to join our Café morning teas. I was there when she got on the bus the first time. I was there when she came home and I made sure that she’d enjoyed herself and had some fun. I also took her to Bass Care and we joined in an exercise class and some community lunches.

Mary is now feeling less lonely. She’s enjoying exercise, feels healthier and steadier on her feet. She’s also socially engaged in the community, having lunches with people etc. Her daughter is well supported and knows her mother has basically got her life back. And things are working well.”

Caring for our community

Chinese Friends of HealthSome members of the Chinese community have difficulty accessing health services due to language or cultural barriers.

To combat this problem, Carrington Health recruited a group of volunteers in 2011 known as the Chinese Friends of Health to assist with closing this gap.

The Chinese Friends of Health (CFOH) and Carrington Health have worked together towards improving the health and wellbeing of Chinese people within the community in a number of practical ways.

CFOH have increased awareness and access among the Chinese community to Carrington Health’s services, through the translation of communications including service brochures.

Additionally, members of CFOH attended health information sessions provided by us and ran by a dietitian and occupational therapist. In these sessions CFOH members learnt about healthy eating as well as the role that an occupational therapist plays in the community. All knowledge, that as health ambassadors they can share with their community. These sessions will be expanded in 2016.

CFOH also participated in and recruited participants for projects including Deakin University’s BEActive research. This research sought to understand environmental factors contributing to the physical activity, eating habits and levels of social interaction among older people in the Chinese community.

20%of our clients are from a culturally and linguistically diverse background.

Alm

ost

20%of our clients speak a language other than English at home, with half this group speaking Mandarin or Cantonese.

Alm

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Caring for our Community

Our dementia support program

The Access and Support Program works with people living with dementia and their carers. The program targets people who for some reason have fallen through the gaps and have no services to support them in their own homes. Some people may not be aware of available services, are initially hesitant or resistant to services because they feel they will lose their independence. The program faciliator actively supports the person to access and engage in services that meet their needs within the community.

12. 13.

Keith’s story – from The Men’s Shed

“I started volunteering earlier this year at the Nunawading Men’s shed. I work with the kids from the Refresh program. We’re trying to get them back into either school, a job or enrolled as an apprentice. You see a real difference in them from participating in the program. We’ve got one young man who’s now gone to work as an apprentice bricklayer and another two have gone back to school, which is just so fantastic.

There are three or four of us that work each Tuesday and sometimes we have up to a dozen kids. You can see a lot of improvement in all of them. We get them to make something, for example we’ve made cheeseboards, which are quite easy for us to make, but harder for them. But we’ve shown them how to do it and then they’ve taken them home and given it to their mum as a gift, all wrapped up.

I really hope that these kids know that I really care for them. There are a lot of people in this world that don’t care for kids as they are at the moment – and I do.”

Simone and James – Refresh participants

“ Volunteers can actually change your life, they help you when maybe you don’t think you need it but you actually do. A proud moment was when I was taking my shoe rack home after so many weeks and so many hours, just putting all my hard work into it and now it sits at home with all my shoes and stuff in it and I am thinking ‘wow - I did that’.

You can see us changing every day – from just coming here every Tuesday – we always achieve things: different goals. We come here, not just for fun, but to learn and be around volunteers like Keith and Neville, Brian, Barry and Raph.” – Simone

“ Even if you are having a bad day it is good to come and just talk to them – they are always up for a good chat.” – James

Changing livesChanging lives

About the Men’s Shed

The Whitehorse Men’s Shed provides opportunities for men to come together to socialise and work on woodwork or other projects of interest in a supportive workshop environment. The Shed supports men who may be experiencing a range of circumstances that limit their connection to broader community life.

“ It is amazing to see the development of people as they attend the Shed. When men arrive at the Shed for the first time they are often reserved or anxious and over a period of weeks and months you see their confidence increasing”

– Barry Phillips, Manager, Men’s Shed

A fresh start

The Avenue Neighbourhood House’s Refresh program, aims to get early school leavers back on track through mentoring and training. Carrington Health’s Men’s Shed is now involved in delivering a component of this program. The ‘Shedders’ teach basic woodworking skills to these young people.

14. 15.

Changing LivesChanging Lives

Our Needle and Syringe Program

based at Carrington had

2,200 contacts with clients over the last year The Community Health OutreachProgram Eastern Region (mobile needle and syringe service) had

3,900 contacts with clients.

The purpose of the Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) is to reduce and prevent the spread of blood borne viral infections such as HIV and Hepatitis C. Through the NSP program, injecting drug users are able to access sterile needles and syringes together with storage containers to secure used needles which can then be returned for safe disposal at Carrington Health.

Frequently, injecting drug users are marginalised and are at risk of developing chronic health problems. One of the side effects for the drug user can be severe dental problems. A lack of proper nutrition can also result in general health deterioration.

As well as reducing risks for drug users, the NSP connects people with other services they may need including mental health and dental services, thereby acting as a gateway program with the potential to transform lives.

An example of this holistic care occurred recently where a young man connected with the NSP had lost many of his teeth and was self-conscious of his appearance. He received dental treatment under the NSP funding. He now has dentures and can interact more confidently with his friends and family.

“We were initially referred to Carrington Health through our case worker at Alzheimer’s Australia. Our weekly sessions involved a tailored workout in the gym. Splitting off from our partners, we stayed and talked with a psychologist, whilst they negotiated their way through the shopping centre across the road with a support worker.

I became aware of the importance of exercising and focusing on my strengths. Everyone was so generous in sharing their stories and the many challenges that affected our loved ones and us. The help of the group was inspiring, we all got so much out of it. We shared ideas and where to access resources, education and information. The psychologist talked through ways of caring for ourselves.

Even after the program finished there was follow up contact, a home visit, assessments arranged and things put in place that we will need to access in the future.

Our lives are continuing, as are the challenges. They seem to happen in mini-waves, not always predictable, but we keep bobbing back up again. But we’ve learnt there’s still so much in life to embrace.”

Young Moves program

‘Young Moves’ was an innovative eight week pilot program supporting both the carer and individual with younger onset dementia to maintain and improve their health needs and receive support services, education and opportunities for social connection.

Currently there are no other programs or services offering this type of holistic support.

NSP facts Dementia, usually associated with older people, can also affect people in their 50s, 40s or even in their 30s. The latest research indicatesthat younger onset dementia

affects as many as

24,500 Australians and is increasing.

16. 17.

Holistic care via the Needle & Syringe Program

Drug use impacts a wide variety of people within our community. As well as using narcotics, people of all ages become addicted to prescription medication (some of which is injected) as well as steroids, injected for body enhancement.

Young Moves Lyn’s Story

“ All people face challenges, some more than others. Carrington Health showed us there are people who care. My husband and I are not going to stop living because he has an illness. We might have to make some concessions, but that’s okay because we know we aren’t alone.”

Despite a large network of food outlets across Whitehorse, 3.4% of households run out of food in any twelve month period and cannot afford to buy more. The cost of living and/or a lack of transport can make it hard for many residents to buy enough nutritious foods. Households at risk of food insecurity include single parent families, people living with a mental illness, older individuals or those on a low income.

More than twelve households have benefited from the project. More households are now showing an interest in participating in home gardening or communal gardening, and we are starting to link residents with local food growing groups for additional support.

Through hands-on learning, the residents have prepared garden beds, grown fresh produce and increased their confidence in growing food. The development of a new communal garden space is underway with support from Whitehorse City Council and will be used to teach residents about sustainable gardening practices as well as for social gatherings.

The project has had a positive effect on families. As people have shared the experience with their neighbours, new friendships have grown with the added benefit of getting outside and being active.

Through a partnership with our Oral Health team, these young people are able access dental services.

We are also providing Outreach services at kindergartens to three and four year olds who are getting ready to transition to school. This work includes mouth checks and oral health education session that are engaging for children.

“ Thanks to the dentist and dental nurse who handled my daughter this morning while in the dental chair. I was impressed with the way they spoke to my child: calming her down and making her feel at ease.”

We are also involved with Supported Residential Services (SRS) where we provide on-site mouth checks and oral health advice.

40%of households in a public housing estate in Whitehorse ran out of food in the previous

12 monthsand could not afford

to buy more

2,746dental emergencies were responded to last year.

Changing Lives Changing Lives

18. 19.

Seeds of Change

Carrington Health is supporting residents at a public housing estate to grow food in their home gardens and in a communal garden space. This has allowed families to supplement their meals with fresh vegetables. It is also a great opportunity to grow culturally familiar foods.

Oral Health

We are currently working with Brosnan Youth Services who provide community-based support services for disadvantaged young people.

Sector-wide partnerships

• ‘Connect4Health’ (C4H) is a formal consortium bringing together Melbourne’s four Inner-Eastern Metropolitan Region Community Health Services (Inner East, Manningham, MonashLink and Whitehorse). Enabling the separate organisations to reap the benefits of size and scale as well as being able to leverage each other’s knowledge and program successes. All while retaining the richness of local community connections and knowledge.

• Carrington Health has been instrumental in forming the ‘Community Health Collective’, including twelve independent, not-for-profit organisations that have agreed to partner. The group will develop a comprehensive population health response to improve health outcomes, reduce health inequalities, ease the burden of disease and maximise social inclusion for people in the northern and eastern metropolitan regions of Melbourne.

Chronic Disease

• Chairing the Regional Diabetes Initiatives Steering Committee (EMR DISC) working with Eastern Health, Eastern Medicare Locals, Primary Care Partnerships, Royal District Nursing Service and Community Health services to plan and co-ordinate services for people with diabetes.

• IDEAS (Integrated Diabetes Education and Assessment Service), working with Eastern Health, to support and encourage people with diabetes to manage their health and prevent further complications.

• Partnering in joint research. We completed our randomised control trial and cross-sectional study of IDEAS, focused on the benefits to clients and

considering the provision of service within a community setting. Carried out in conjunction with Eastern Health Endocrinology, Deakin University, EACH - Knox Community Health Service and supported by the Department of Health and Human Services.

• Working with Inner East Melbourne Medicare Local reference groups relating to general practitioners, ageing and mental health; and region-wide population health planning.

• Partnership agreement with Diabetes Victoria to develop, trial and evaluate a Chinese chronic disease prevention program.

• Collaborating with Eastern Health Mental Health Services and Neami to work together to support improved health and wellbeing for clients experiencing co-occurring physical and mental health concerns.

Ageing Well

• Hosting a regional Home and Community Care (HACC) Access and Support Worker, supporting people with dementia and their carers to access services in the community.

• Working with a reference group of service providers including Alzheimer’s Australia Victoria and Eastern Health in the establishment of a ‘Dementia Café’ social support program.

• Participating in the steering committee for the Manningham CALD Memory Lane Dementia Café.

• Chairing the Victorian Dementia and Speech Pathology Community of Practice.

• As part of C4H, delivering a joint project funded by HACC to implement goal-directed care-planning for our older clients and younger people with disabilities.

• Participating in the Whitehorse Partnership Group with Whitehorse Council and Royal District Nursing Service to improve service coordination for HACC eligible community members.

• Participating in the EMR HACC Alliance Executive Committee representing community health

Oral Health

• Partnering in the Regional Oral Health Network (EMR OHN) to deliver consistent and integrated dental services across all public dental services in the region.

• Partnering with the Brosnan Foundation to provide services to homeless youth.

Children and Youth Services

• Partnering with Manningham Community Health Service and Monashlink on a project to trial and evaluate a new service model for allied health assistants in the children’s service. Now expanded to include Inner East Community Health Service as the AHA Strategic Workforce Planning group.

• Continued delivery of the PS4Kids service in Whitehorse – providing psychological care for children up to 12 years of age.

• Outreaching some of our services to Biala Early Childhood Intervention Service in Rose St, Box Hill.

• Headspace Hawthorn – piloting of a fortnightly outreach GP clinic on ground floor for young people 18 - 25 years.

• Partnering with City of Whitehorse in the development and achievement of their local government Early Years Plan.

• “Mental Health and Us” – a new program for youth developed in partnership with School Focused Youth Services of Knox, Maroondah, Whitehorse and Yarra Ranges, as well as the local government youth services, and other health services.

• Leading a C4H Suicide Prevention Project which established consistent guidelines for the management of community health clients at risk of suicide.

We continue to participate in a range of effective, enterprising partnerships with other experts in the broader health sector and beyond, to ensure our services meet the needs of our community, particularly those who are vulnerable to health risks, now and into the future.

Progress through partnerships Progress through partnerships

20. 21.

Food Security

• Working closely with Whitehorse City Council to support the development of a communal garden at Wattle Hill and to advocate for actions related to food security in the council’s Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan.

• Participating in the Inner East PCP Food Think Tank, Victorian Healthy Food Basket Survey and food mapping project. The results of this survey will provide insight on geographic variation in food prices and the location of different food outlets across the City of Whitehorse.

Healthy Relationships

• Participating in the EMR Crime Prevention Reference Group.

• Participating in the state-wide Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) Preventing Violence Against Women Network (PVAW).

• Participating in a wide range of PVAW partnership and networking activities as a statewide and regional level.

• Partnership with seven Maternal and Child Health Services in the EMR to deliver and evaluate the Baby Makes 3 program – a prevention of violence against women program initiative.

• Ongoing collaboration with Deakin and Melbourne Universities in various evaluation activities for the Baby Makes 3 program.

• Partnership with Warrnambool Council and the Greater South Coast region to support the delivery and evaluation of Baby Makes 3 program across the five councils in the region.

• Partnership with the ‘Generating Equality and Respect’ (GEAR) project, Hobsons Bay, City of Maribyrnong, City of Frankston, City of Melbourne, Mitchell Shire, City of Ballarat, CoHealth/City of Brimbank, Kildonan Uniting Care, Relationships Aust Vic, Family Action Centre (Newcastle), Women’s Health Gladstone, Studio Village (Gold

Coast), The Bridge Shepparton, YMCA Gippsland, to provide training and facilitate and support their delivery of Baby Makes 3.

Health Promotion

• Chairing the Deakin University Health Advisory Board.

• Chairing the Opening Doors Steering Committee - partnership with Link Health & Community, Inner East Primary Care Partnership, to deliver the Opening Doors Community Leadership program in Melbourne’s inner east to reduce social isolation.

• Chairing the Action on Alcohol Flagship partnership, including the region’s seven councils, four community health services, Dalgarno Institute and the Inner and Outer East Primary Care Partnerships with the aim of reducing the harm from alcohol in the region.

• Participating in the Inner East Primary Care Partnership Population Health Planning Collaborative.

• Member of the regional Community Health Health Promotion Special Initiative Group (CHHPSIG), working together on shared health promotion priorities and capacity building.

• Collaboration with the region’s Together for Equality and Respect Strategy partners to deliver the four year regional PVAW strategy.

Men’s Shed

• Partnership with The Avenue Neighbourhood House in delivering the Men’s Shed Refresh program to a group of 15-16 year olds who are disengaged from school and employment.

• Ongoing collaboration with the Rotary Club of Box Hill Central to undertake site improvements and equipment purchases.

• Partnership with the Salami Festa to produce a number of items for the annual festival.

• Ongoing relationship with Nadrasca where the Men’s Shed utilises Nadrasca’s building facility to operate whilst undertaking many projects to support their clientele.

• Provision of a $20,000 Community Grant from the National Australia Bank to support the purchase of a vehicle for the Men’s Shed.

Volunteering

• Partnership with National Australia Bank to identify and recruit corporate volunteers into project and consultancy roles.

• Member of the Leaders of Health Volunteer Engagement Network promoting leadership in health volunteer management across Victoria.

• Involvement in the local Whitehorse City Council Volunteer Manager Network.

• Work in conjunction with Eastern Volunteers Resource Centre for support with volunteer management resources and eastern region network meetings.

Christine’s story

People who receive services from Neami National are dealing with a range of mental health issues that affect their daily lives. In some cases, they are coping with physical problems as well. Carrington Health and Neami National have built a strong working relationship that includes priority access for Neami National clients. Carrington Health has worked hard to educate staff across both organisations to ensure there is an efficient referral process and to avoid unnecessary distress to our clients.

We have worked this year as partners, in conjunction with Eastern Health, to create and run a Healthier Lifestyles Program with direct input from a dietitian – it was so popular that there was a waiting list to participate in the program.

We have had an extremely positive response from clients participating in the program including Christine. Christine found the program very helpful as it enabled her to achieve her goals of learning about healthy eating and weight loss. For her, highlights included learning

how to read and interpret food labels as well as hands on activities like food shopping. These activities combined with mindfulness exercises have increased her confidence when it comes to making healthier food choices.

“ The healthier lifestyles program helped me to identify the benefits of healthy eating and what my unhealthy food habits were. I learnt about what is healthy and what is not healthy – so I could make better choices. I would recommend this program to others and it was important for my wellbeing and my recovery. I was given a lot of helpful information and I enjoyed the hands on experience. The staff were very helpful and friendly.”

Partnering with Neami National for best results

About Neami National

Neami National is a community mental health service supporting people living with mental illness to improve their health, live independently and pursue a life based on their own strengths, values and goals.

Neami National provide services across various communities in Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, ranging from the inner-city and suburbs to regional and remote areas.

Progress through partnerships Progress through partnerships

22. 23.

The Quality of Care report describes our safety, quality and service delivery systems and, importantly, the outcomes. It also describes how we reflect on our systems and compare them to similar services. In this way, we learn what we are doing well and where we can do better in providing the very best service.

Quality of care reportQuality of care report

At Carrington Health we are determined to provide health services that are safe, of the highest quality and meet our consumers’ diverse needs.

Our Community Advisory Group

The Community Advisory Group (CAG) is a group of community members and staff who meet every month at Carrington Health. Community members are recruited to serve on the group and can be consumers of the service and/or residents in Whitehorse.

The CAG have a Terms of Reference and an annual action plan that they develop in conjunction with management. In the past year the CAG has participated in a variety of activities that support improved client outcomes. These include:

• Development of the annual Quality of Care Report

• The rebranding of Carrington Health

• Review of our Client Information Pack and client surveys

• Manning local volunteer expositions promoting CAG membership

• Volunteering at Carrington Health

• Website and brochure redevelopment

• Connecting with representatives from local, state and federal governments

Accreditation Update/Review

In April 2015, we participated in a mid-cycle accreditation review as part of retaining our three-year quality accreditation.

The review was done by our accreditation body, Quality Innovation & Performance (QIP). The review had many parts, including submitting many organisational documents and reports regarding our quality improvement and clinical performance. Additionally, we underwent a two-day, on-site visit by QIP’s assessors. They examined documents, interviewed and questioned managers, dentists, clients, volunteers and directors. The major areas of focus were governance (policies and systems to ensure we do what we say we do and that quality and safety remain high), partnering with clients and infection control (how we work to prevent infection).

The review, by independent experts, showed we really listen to clients in the way they like to be treated.

Four areas received commendation: Two related to how we consulted clients and listened when designing our services and brochures. An example the assessors gave was how we extended our hours of service in dental as a result of clients saying they would like to visit after-hours.

Another commendation was for training staff to handle emergencies, for instance when a client has a fall or a breathing problem so we respond quickly. Another merit was for the way we keep our senior managers and Board involved in learning from minor incidents.

To enhance our services further we received advice to provide additional training for managers and staff, especially dental staff, in relation to involving clients in decisions about caring for teeth and gums. We have also been encouraged to look at even better ways of using client representatives in our Community Advisory Group (CAG).

We have incorporated feedback we received on last year’s report into this edition. This report will be circulated to all our local health and community organisations.

24. 25.

Quality of Care report Quality of care report

Infection Control

In 2014/2015 we continued to phone patients after invasive dental procedures to ensure any potentially developing infections we’re detected early. To minimise the potential spread of infectious illnesses between clients in the waiting room, we encourage clients who may have colds/viruses to let us know so their appointments can be re-scheduled. All staff at Carrington Health are provided with free flu injections to prevent contracting influenza. In 2014/2015 we made improvements to our sick-leave policies so staff could more easily take leave and not expose clients to potentially serious infections.

New Autoclave Sterilizing Machine – Bigger, Faster, Easier & “Greener”

In 2014/2015, our dental team took delivery of a new autoclave sterilizing machine at a cost of $85,000. It has an automatic warm-up cycle which “wakes” it from an energy/water-saving mode. This saves set-up time for our dental nurses each morning. It also has better digital displays to reduce errors and uses modern digital record-keeping for more accurate, and more flexible, batch-processing of equipment with varied sterilizing requirements. Our new machine can even download data into Microsoft Excel so that our sterilising audits are more comprehensive and easier to conduct. Our staff received comprehensive training in operation of this new machine.

Feedback

Receiving feedback from our clients is vital to ensuring Carrington Health is delivering appropriate and effective services to our community. It is an important way for us to improve our services and deliver the best care.

In 2014-2015 we received a total of 79 feedback forms which included:

• 46 compliments (10% reduction)

• 25 complaints (11% reduction)

• 8 suggestions

We are constantly striving to improve our services by listening to our clients. We listen and act on information received so we can adjust services to better meet the needs of our clients, and provide the best possible service.

We embrace your feedback and invite all clients to contribute by visiting our website, completing feedback forms in reception areas or providing feedback verbally to any staff member. You will be kept informed as to what we have done to resolve the issue. All comments are fed back to relevant staff, the management team and our Board members on a regular basis to ensure our services are continuously improving.

Victorian Community Health Indicators

The Victorian Community Health Indicators project, completed in February 2015, identified the need for more interpreters as an area for improvement. As a result, a review of both the Oral Health and Community Health interpreter systems has been recommended. The Oral Health part of the review was undertaken in April to June 2015. Reception team members undertook the challenge supported by an external consultant with an aim to make the interpreters system more efficient and streamlined.

During the review, the team made some important changes. Where there is more than one client booked on any given morning or afternoon who requires an interpreter of the same language, an extended booking for an interpreter is to be made rather than two separate bookings. This change provides consistency for the clients and appointment coverage (there is better availability of one interpreter for extended time over two different interpreters). It also has a cost benefit to Carrington Health with only one interpreter needing to attend the service. In addition, using the interpreter services online report instead of an in house spreadsheet reduces duplication of information by reception staff.

Shortly after the Oral Health system review, the team also decided to increase the level of interpreters requested at Carrington Health from Level 1 to Level 2. This change was made following a number of complaints from clients regarding attitudes and skill level of Level 1 interpreters. All requests for interpreters for Oral Health are now for Level 2.

People Matters survey results

The People Matters survey is an employee survey run by the Victorian Public Sector Commission. It provides staff with an opportunity to tell the organisation’s leaders what it is like to work at Carrington Health. The survey asks questions about workplace well-being, job satisfaction, service delivery, leadership and how behaviours such as fairness and respect are valued in our workplace.

In the area of patient safety, there was 100% agreement from staff that patient care errors are handled appropriately and 96% of staff are encouraged by colleagues to report any patient safety concerns they may have. An area for improvement identified in the survey is the training of new and existing staff. As a result, a new Learning and Development framework has been developed to increase training for our staff.

In the area of job satisfaction and engagement, there was an improvement in all areas regarding staff engagement, personal attachment and motivation levels from the previous year’s results. All Carrington Health staff had the opportunity to get together at our Staff Celebration Day in October 2014. The day aimed to showcase to staff the breadth of work done at Carrington Health while enjoying each other’s company.

Clinical Indicators – Dental

A clinical indicator is a measure of a clinical process or outcome. For example, the extent to which we efficiently complete steps for sterilising instruments or our success rate for fillings and root canals.

Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) have identified measures that reflect the quality of dental care. They regularly receive our data and send us, and other public dental agencies, reports on our dental clinical indicators. With this data, we compare our performance against averages for local and State agencies. We use these indicators to confirm we are doing a quality job and to track our performance over time and against other agencies. We are also required to submit these indicators to external accreditation bodies.

Our performance on dental health clinical indicators often exceeds regional (Eastern Metropolitan Region) and State (Victoria) averages. When examining the charts beside, a lower per cent (of re-treatment) is a better outcome.

“ Dear Carrington Health, Thanks so much for your care and advice in caring for my teeth. You were very thorough and professional.” Dental client

“ My rotation at Carrington Health was largely responsible for the dramatic improvement in my record keeping, time management and general clinical organisation.” Dental student

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 Dental Re-treatment within 6 Months of Restorative/Fillings Work (All adult)

5.90Carrington

Health

7.85Region 7.65

State

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 Dental Re-treatment within 6 Months of Restorative/Fillings Work (Adult – Non-emergency)

5.03Carrington

Health

7.08Region 6.60

State

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 Dental Re-treatment Endodontic (ie Root Canal): Extraction within

12 months of Commencement

3.10Carrington

Health

8.20Region

6.93State

26. 27.

Good Life Gym

From our participants:

“ I feel happier and my body is slowly improving”

“ I now recognise the necessity of my gym work and the routine associated with it.”

28.

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

This report will be available for clients at reception and as a download from our website www.carringtonhealth.org.au We are eager to receive your feedback on this year’s report, using the Client Feedback forms available at reception or via email to feedback@carringtonhealth.org.au

You can find our financial statements online at www.carringtonhealth.org.au/about/our-organisational-reports

Carrington Health receives funding from Australian and Victorian governments.

Get involved

Newsletter Keep up to date with what’s happening via our email newsletter.

Make a donationYour donation no matter how big or small will make a difference to support the work of Carrington Health.

Become a community/corporate partnerPartnering with us is about joining forces to make an even bigger difference to the lives of the people we support. Your support is invaluable.

Become a volunteerOur volunteers share our commitment to making a difference and help us achieve all that we do. You’ll be doing something you’re passionate about, sharing and learning new skills and working towards supporting people to live healthier, happier lives.

Visit www.carringtonhealth.org.au to find out more or contact our Partnerships Manager on 8843 2323.