Interim Evaluation of the Northern Territory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Aged Care Workforce Development Projects - Final Report

7: Evaluation Element 4: DOHA Processes to Support Projects

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7.1 Overview And Summary

The evaluation of this element focused on the strategies implemented by DoHA to support the Workforce Development Projects. Effective support of the projects was integral to their success and included:

• Project commencement strategies including the provision of information and ongoing support
• Workshops for RTOs and other stakeholders
• A reporting framework and process for RTOs, and
• seven regionally based aged Care Coordinator mentoring workshops.

This element overlaps with Evaluation Element 6: Information Produced Through the Projects; therefore, the workshops for RTOs and other stakeholders are described in Evaluation Element 6 as they resulted in a report; however the feedback on the workshops is included in this section.

Summary of findings

Overall, RTOs expressed that DoHA was supportive of them in their role in the Workforce Development Projects but communication could be improved through greater clarity of project objectives and more meetings and updates on the progress of the Project’s. DoHA has advised that they have and will continue to address these issues.

All stakeholders were generally satisfied with the workshops provided to support the Projects.

RTOs provide quarterly RTO progress reports to DoHA to report on the training delivered, issues impacting on their work and other relevant issues. The changes proposed by DoHA to ensure that the reports provide cumulative information on training delivery will ensure that outputs can be easily ascertained as the NT Training Project continues.

7.2 Feedback on DOHA Processes

7.2.1 Project commencement

The four RTOs identified some challenges at the commencement of the project including:

• Working in isolation from other RTOs and developing strategies for addressing the challenges experienced
• Difficulty sourcing and retaining trainers, and
• Planning six to 12 months ahead for training dates with communities.

RTOs identified that more consultation between RTOs at the commencement of the project to share ideas and strategies for addressing the challenges facing them would have been appropriate.

7.2.2 DoHA communication and support of RTOs

Early RTO Feedback (2009)

At the commencement of the project, RTOs were asked to comment on the support provided by DoHA to date. Feedback included:

• Most RTOs found DoHA staff very supportive, easy to approach and responsive to RTO contact in a timely manner
• One RTO commented that the evaluation was a positive indication of DoHA’s interest in identifying areas for improvement, and
• One RTO suggested that more correspondence from DoHA in the form of emails and updates was required and that more notice of events and changes to the project were required to enable organisations to plan effectively.

RTOs were also asked to comment on the effectiveness of information and dissemination by DoHA, feedback included:

• Most RTOs have found this process effective
• One RTO commented that the first progress report was an issue because it required submission too early in the process (due in June 2010, 4 months after Project commencement), resulting in the RTO not being able to provide adequate details for many of the required fields, and
• One RTO suggested that although there were channels for RTOs to contact DoHA on an as needs basis, there should also be regular communication from DoHA to RTOs.

Subsequent RTO feedback (2010)

RTOs were asked to rate and comment on support and communication from DoHA over the last year. Responses were rated between one to five, with one being very poor and five being excellent.

DoHA Support and Communication	1 V Poor	2	3	4	5 Excellent
Initial support in establishing project		25%	25%	50%
Ongoing support in implementing the NT Training Project			25%	50%	25%
Overall support			50%	25%	25%

RTO comments included:

• One RTO said there were no problems contacting DoHA to ask for support, and
• One RTO commented that initially they did not feel comfortable contacting DoHA, but that this did improve over time. They suggested that communications could improve if DoHA regularly approached the RTOs to touch base either by phone or email.

RTOs were asked to rate and comment on the initial project information from DoHA in terms of the following:

• Timeliness
• Clarity
• Usefulness, and
• Access to additional relevant information.

Responses were rated between one to five, with one being very poor and five being excellent.

Initial Project Information	1 V Poor	2	3	4	5 Excellent
Timeliness		25%	50%	25%
Clarity		25%	50%	50%
Usefulness			25%	75%
Access to additional information			50%	25%	25%

Overall, RTOs expressed that DoHA was supportive of them but communication could be improved by:

• Greater clarity of the project objectives and processes at the commencement of the project
• More face to face meetings with RTOs at the commencement of the project, and
• More regular email updates to RTOs regarding the project development and progress.

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7.2.3 Workshops

Three workshops have been held to inform and support stakeholders (including RTOs) in the implementation of the Projects including:

• A Workforce Development Workshop (including 4 RTOs, resource developers, Shire aged care coordinators, service providers and the evaluator) in Darwin in February 2009 with the aims of:
  • Sharing information
  • Discussing issues
  • Developing tools
  • Networking and building relationships between stakeholders (including RTOs, government representatives, and other stakeholders).
• An RTO support workshop in Alice Springs (including the 4 RTOs and the evaluator) from March 30^th to April 1^st 2009 with the aims of:
  • Clarifying the role of the RTOs
  • Gaining an overview of RTOs current progress
  • Facilitating coordinated and effective approaches to training
  • Assisting in the project evaluation in assessing the role and capacity of training to improve quality of service delivery
  • Building an evidence base to show outcomes and reasons behind them.
• An RTO workshop (including the four contracted RTOs, 1 national RTO and one QLD RTO) in Darwin on February 16^th and 17^th 2010 with the aims of maximizing the success of the NT Training Project by:
  • Re-emphasising the roles and responsibilities of RTOs in training Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care workers
  • Providing consistent and effective information to RTOs and aged care service coordinators about mentoring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander training participants and
  • Providing information and sharing knowledge to promote best practice in adult education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners in the aged care sector.

RTO feedback (2010)

RTOs were asked to rate and make comment (if desired) on the DoHA support workshops. The workshops were categorised by location and date (Darwin 2009, Alice Springs 2009, and Darwin 2010) and considered against the following elements:

• Presentation
• Content
• Structure
• Handouts, and
• Networking opportunities.

Responses were rated between one to five, with one being very poor and five being excellent. One RTO respondent did not attend the Alice Springs workshop.

Darwin Workshop 2009	DNA	1 V Poor	2	3	4	5 Excellent
Presentation					75%	25%
Content				50%	50%
Structure			25%		75%
Handouts				50%	50%
Networking opportunities					25%	75%
Alice Springs Workshop 2009		1	2	3	4	5
Presentation	25%				75%
Content	25%				75%
Structure	25%			25%	25%	25%
Handouts	25%		25%	25%	25%
Networking opportunities	25%			25%		50%
Darwin Workshop 2010		1	2	3	4	5
Presentation		25%	50%		25%
Content			50%	50%
Structure				75%	25%
Handouts			50%	50%
Networking opportunities			25%		25%	50%

RTO comments on workshops are included in Attachments Section 3: Data Tables: Evaluators Tables: Table ET6: RTO Workshop Feedback.

DoHA developed a summary of the Darwin RTO workshop⁹⁴ that detailed the agenda, activities, discussion areas and action items covered in the workshop. Key action items included:

• RTOs to continue to enter and use The Skills Audit Database until further work is completed on the database by DoHA
• DoHA to provide feedback collected through the NT Aged Care Services Questionnaire to RTOs and distribute the rationale document developed by DoHA
• RTOs to work with service providers to:
  • Determine ways to celebrate worker training achievements
  • Agree on a process to feedback additional training needs within the community
  • Clarify the boundaries of the RTO role in the community
• DoHA to provide advice regarding contract renewal and privacy protocols to RTOs, and
• RTOs and DoHA to consider the development of an MOU that could be used in the future with service providers to articulate and formalise the training relationship and service provision. DoHA advised that this has occurred.

Overall comments and feedback from workshop participants validate the need for face to face contact with stakeholders throughout the project. Participants in workshops were satisfied with the workshops; however, the presentation of the Darwin 2010 workshop was less well received than previous workshops.

7.2.4 RTO progress reporting

RTOs submitted progress reports quarterly and these were reviewed to evaluate the type and integrity of the data collected, to ascertain the training that had been planned and conducted, review the achievement of competencies and determine any issues that may impact on the conduct of the evaluation. A range of issues were identified and are further described in: Attachments Section 3: Data Tables: Evaluators Tables: Table ET7: RTO Progress Reporting Feedback.

Solutions to these issues were proposed by GGJ in Evaluation Progress Reports 3, 4 and 5 and action was generally taken to address them. However, the integrity of the data obtained through the SAD remained an issue throughout the evaluation despite a significant amount of reiteration of requirements by DoHA with RTOs. The issue of quantifying the number of training participants who were RPL’d remains an issue. RTOs can document in SAD if RPL was applied; however, this information is not easily retrievable and does not allow for an analysis of how often this is occurring.
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94. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing 2010 Northern Territory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Registered Training Organisation Workshop Summary

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