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Aged Care eConnect

Appendix A - Virtual visiting participating families guide

A resource kit for residential aged care facilities

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Acknowledgement

This Resource Kit has been developed by Western District Health Service Victoria as part of the Virtual Visiting Project funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

Disclaimer

This publication and all its contents are provided to assist aged care services to implement virtual visiting.

Any policies and practices dealing with these areas should be developed in the context of relevant legislation, codes of practice and other professional standards, policies and guidelines relevant to the practice setting, together with appropriate advice on legal issues.

The Australian Government and the authors expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person, whether a purchaser of this publication or not, in respect of anything and of the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done by any person in reliance, whether in whole or in part, upon the whole or any part of the contents of this publication.

About this document
Introduction
Minimum technology requirements
Using internet video conferencing software
Our virtual visiting process
Support
Closing

About this document

This document is intended to provide families and friends of the Virtual Visiting Project with the technical information required to enable a virtual visit to occur from their own home.

Audience

The intended audience for this Virtual Visiting Project Participating Families Setup Guide is:

• friends and families

Further assistance

If you have any questions about Virtual Visiting Participating Families Guide, or if you need help with a Virtual Visit, please contact:

Note for aged care facility Insert your organisation’s contact person’s name and details here

Thank you for deciding to participate in the virtual visiting program

Introduction

Virtual Visiting provides aged care residents with the ability to keep connected with their families and friends via video conferencing technology. Regular contact with families and friends is important to enhance residents’ quality of life and helps overcome the social isolation can be associated with admission to a residential aged care facility.
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Minimum technology requirements

Video conferencing uses audio and video telecommunications to bring people at different sites together in real time. Video conferencing uses either a computer, video camera or a video conferencing unit and a network such as the Internet, to conduct a live conference between two or more people. Video conferencing is an extremely useful method of communication because it can allow face-to-face communication between people at different locations.

To participate in a virtual visiting with a resident, families will need to have the following hardware/software and connections:

A broadband internet connection.

A computer with:

• a minimum of a 500 mm screen;
• at least a 1GHz processor;
• at least 256 MB RAM is recommended for voice and video calls;
• For IBM compatible computers:
  Windows 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 7 is required for personal computers. (Windows 2000 users require DirectX 9.0 for video calls); and
• For Apple PCs:
  OSX 10.x operating system.
• A webcam (may be built into the computer).
• Speakers and microphone – you can use the in-built speakers on your computer or have separate speakers.
• A microphone - a headset is one option.
• Registration with the same video conferencing provider as our aged care facility.

Using internet video conferencing software

The video conferencing provider provides detailed instructions about how to:

• register and install the software;
• select the appropriate privacy settings;
• find and add contacts;
• send invitations to family and friends wishing to participate in virtual visiting;
• initiate visits; and
• troubleshoot problems.

Our facility can also assist to provide additional information about this process.

Note for aged care facility Aged care facilities should insert details about their virtual visiting system

It could be helpful to insert pictures with labels to illustrate the above information. You could also include computer screen shots to illustrate how to access the virtual visiting program, find and add contacts, make a call, open the video screen, and hang up the call.

You may need to seek the permission from the video conferencing provider before using screen shots from their program.
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Our virtual visiting process

Note for aged care facility Modify these diagrams to suit your organisation’s processes

Visit is booked by family or friend
E-mail	Telephone
Booking received by the aged care facility’s virtual visiting coordinator
The aged care facility’s virtual visiting coordinator confirms the availability of the resident. The virtual visiting coordinator organises staffing for the visit (this may involve contacting a staff member or volunteer to check their availability). Once the above arrangements are made the virtual visiting coordinator confirms the booking with the resident, visitor and appropriate management and staff /volunteer within the aged care facility. The coordinator prepares a booking information sheet to ensure instructions for the virtual visit are understood by staff. A sample form is contained in Appendix H.

Virtual visit facilitation process (example only)

Note for aged care facility Modify these diagrams to suit your organisation’s processes

Virtual visit has been confirmed

Staff / volunteer should arrive approximately 15 minutes prior to the virtual visit time to pick up a copy of the booking information sheet. The sheet should contain the following information: Time of the visit. Resident name and room number. Telephone number of family member / friend and their login name for virtual visits. Telephone number of facility’s virtual visiting coordinator. Any other information useful to the virtual visit; e.g. position of wall points etc.

Staff member / volunteer to find the resident and arrange any necessary assistance if the resident needs to be moved.

The staff member / volunteer will: open the internet videoconferencing application; adjust the camera so it focuses on the resident; locate the family’s name and initiate the call; and ensure that the resident is able to see and hear the family member. The resident should be left to talk in private.

At the conclusion of the virtual visit the staff member / volunteer will turn off the equipment and make necessary arrangements for the resident to be cared for prior to packing away the equipment.

Virtual visit has been confirmed

Support

Our facility will provide support to assist families and friends to participate in a virtual visit with a resident.
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Closing

Virtual Visiting is an exciting, rewarding and unique program. The benefits of the program are widespread and include:

Increased social contact for the resident

This reduces the likelihood of depression by reconnecting with family and friends. It also offers an opportunity to connect to younger family members.

Continued family participation

Virtual visiting provides the opportunity for residents to keep in touch with family and friends who live considerable distances from the resident. It can provide family and friends with the ability to visit the resident more often.

Thank you again for your participation in the Virtual Visiting Program.

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Copyright Notice

©Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the Department of Health and Ageing 2010

Disclaimer

This document and its contents are to be used as a general resource to assist aged care facilities to run a virtual visiting program. Any aged care facility using information from this document should first obtain its own independent professional advice from a qualified person or expert to determine the suitability and appropriateness of running a virtual visiting program in its facility before relying on any information contained in this document.

Acknowledgment

This document has been developed by the Western District Health Service as part of the Virtual Visiting Project funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

Creative Commons Licence

This work is copyright and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence, a copy of which is available from: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/.

By exercising any rights granted to you under the above licence, you will have accepted, and have agreed to be legally bound by, the terms and conditions contained in the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (By Attribution) licence.

Notice Requirements

When exercising any rights granted to you under the above Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (By Attribution) licence, you must keep intact the above copyright and disclaimer notices.

Attribution Requirements

This document must be attributed as ‘Virtual Visiting – Keeping Connected: A Resource Kit for Residential Aged Care Facilities’.

You must attribute the Western District Health Service by using the above acknowledgment.

Further Inquiries

Inquiries regarding the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence and requests for any other use of this document are to be sent via the post to the Communications Branch, Department of Health and Ageing, GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, or via e-mail to copyright@health.gov.au.
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