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Queensland Projects (quality)

 

 

Stakeholder engagement

Stakeholders will usually include people with disabilities but will often also include their families and/or carers. Stakeholders may include management committees, staff and volunteers. Your funding body, for example, Disability Services Queensland, may also be considered a stakeholder.

Engaging stakeholders is about inviting people with a stake/interest in what you do to be involved in the life of the service. Usually, this is about keeping people informed and giving people the opportunity to have a say in how the service runs. In the context of the quality system, organisations need to actively involve stakeholders in the planning, implementation and continuous improvement processes required of the system.

More information on the following topics is available below:

 

When to engage stakeholders

The level of involvement any individual or group has with the quality system will vary depending on their role, responsibilities, time constraints, interest and preferences.

The management committee needs to be actively involved in the development and monitoring of the implementation plan and in acquitting the financial assistance provided. While their contribution should be at a strategic, rather than operational level, they should take care to support management and staff who are carrying out the actions agreed upon.

Staff need to be invited to contribute to the planning and monitoring of the quality implementation plan to ensure they feel ownership of the plan and understand that quality is about the day to day work they do with people with disabilities, not just paperwork. Ideally, staff will have the opportunity to contribute and influence the quality system through a range of formal and informal mechanisms.

People with disabilities need to be actively engaged by the organisation at a number of levels. First and foremost, the service needs to meet the needs of people using the service. Ideally, the person with a disability (and, where relevant, their family members and/or carers) takes charge of identifying their needs and negotiates a service that will meet their needs. People with disabilities and their families also need the opportunity to have a say in how the service operates. This means there needs to be opportunities for people to be involved in service planning, delivery and review activities and for people to be given the necessary information and support to contribute effectively.

 

Engaging boards and committees

The level of involvement any individual or group has with the quality system will vary depending on their role, responsibilities, time constraints, interest and preferences. Boards of Management (or Management Committees) play a crucial role in guiding the direction of community-based organisations. A Board of Management:

  • focus on the organisation's goals;
  • create a future vision;
  • make strategic and tactical decisions;
  • make major decisions regarding human, physical and financial resources;
  • have ultimate legal responsibility for the organisation.

A Board of Management’s responsibilities include ensuring compliance with ethical, legislative and community standards. Board Members are frequently people who have been involved with the formation of the organisation and who helped form the original vision and mission. It is important to actively engage Board members in the development of your organisation's quality system. The Board of Management should be actively involved and contribute strategically to the implementation of the organisation's quality system. This includes:

  • developing and monitoring the implementation plan;
  • acquitting the financial assistance provided by DSQ; and
  • supporting management and staff to carry out agreed actions.


It is important that Board members have access to relevant information. You may find the following resources useful:

The above information is provided in the Boards and Committee Engagement fact sheet.

 

Engaging staff

If you have decided to use existing staff or recruit additional staff as part of your quality implementation plan, you may like to consider the following general or organisational specific suggestions for the quality system component of their induction.

General

  1. Prepare an induction kit which includes a standards booklet, poster and handouts from the NDS awareness raising workshops held in 2005. Use the NDS Induction workshop plan.
  2. Provide the PowerPoint presentation from the NDS awareness raising workshop (may be downloaded from this website and modified to meet your requirements)
  3. Refer people to the Disability Services Queensland Quality webpage for information on historical context and objectives of the system.
  4. Refer people to the DSQ Partners in Quality Resources and Guide with particular reference to the:

Organisation specific

  1. Provide a copy of the organisation’s detailed implementation plan, timeline and budget submitted to DSQ.
  2. Explain the financial assistance provided by DSQ and how this is to be acquitted.
  3. Involve staff in policy and procedure reviews, using the NDS Queensland Standards Driven Policy Review Kit or the NDS Queensland Policy and Procedure Information Kit.
  4. Discuss/develop/document some terms of reference for their work. This could include:
  • roles and responsibilities with specific reference to the actions outlined in the implementation plan (include timeframes and number of hours allocated to each task)
  • reporting requirements (who, how often, and what level of information to provide)
  • strategies for including other stakeholders such as service users, other staff, management committee members etc. at all stages of the process
  • where staff are part of a team or reference group, establish ground rules for working together
  • decide on how staff/group will be resourced and supported by the organisation

The above information is provided in the NDS Staff Engagement fact sheet.

 

Engaging service users

People need a range of options for contributing and may wish to contribute at different levels at different times. Not everyone wishes to take on the responsibilities associated with being a management committee member but most people would appreciate being asked for their ideas on a name change for the organisation, staff changes, new brochures and so on. Irrespective of the level of involvement, all people need information to be presented in appropriate formats (often a verbal explanation is best with plain English written material/diagrams to support the explanation) and the support to give feedback in meaningful ways.

It is most important to ensure that people have the chance to give input at the “ideas” or “development” phase of change, rather than being asked for feedback once the changes have already been planned. It is also essential that people who have made a contribution (at any level) get feedback on outcomes.

What are some examples of engaging people with disabilities and their families/carers?

Consider inviting and supporting people to give feedback on:

  • staff selection (e.g. reviewing job descriptions, shortlisting);
  • orienting new service users and staff to the organisation; and
  • induction and in-service training.

Consider the use of formal events such as:

  • consumer and/or family forums to give information/training/updates and ask for feedback and ideas;
  • public meetings;
  • focus groups on specific issues;
  • working groups e.g. to review or ratify policies and procedures; and
  • training on the disability service standards.

Consider incidental opportunities for engagement such as:

  • direct support workers periodically asking for feedback on specific issues or aspects of the service they receive;
  • using social events to give a brief update on the service and invite feedback; and
  • having a tear-off feedback slip on the back page of newsletters.

Consider involving independent facilitators:

  • to develop and conduct surveys or focus groups to gather feedback;
  • to conduct training and invite feedback;
  • to interview service users and other stakeholders face-to-face or by phone;
  • to analyse and report on data collected by service staff or volunteers;
  • to assist with the development of user friendly materials and other resources for sharing;
  • information and gathering feedback;
  • to assist with developing or upgrading websites; or
  • any combination of the above.

General examples:

  • newsletters giving information and inviting feedback;
  • telephone or face-to-face contact with people inviting feedback;
  • representation on management committees (ensuring people fully understand their;
  • responsibilities as committee members and are provided with relevant information and support);
  • surveys; and
  • exit interviews with service users and families.

How can we support people with high or complex support needs to have a say?

In gathering feedback and ideas from people with moderate to high or complex support needs, it is helpful to use their current experience (in concrete terms) as the reference point. For example, rather than ask for feedback on standard 2 “Meeting Individual Needs”, have a conversation about what the person did today and what they liked or disliked most. Ask the person to tell you their story and examples of evidence of meeting standards (or needing to improve) will become apparent.

Other examples of how to support people to communicate their experience with the service include:

  • give people a video camera, Polaroid or disposable camera to take photos of (a) things/places/people they really like or enjoy, and (b) things/places/people they wish were different journey/pathway approach to communicate personal experience and preference
  • use single switch and scanning technology to assist people with limited communication to indicate choice and preference
  • provide role play scenarios for people to comment on
  • use of “feeling” cards to communicate response to scenarios presented.

The above information is provided in the NDS Service User Enagement fact sheet.

Other useful links include:

 

 

 

Last updated: 16 Feb 2009