Better Practice Awards 2018 - Nomination Guide | 1
Contents
1.Introduction
2.About the Awards
3.Benefits of the Better Practice Awards program
4.Eligibility
5.Selection process
6.Key dates
7.Award descriptors
8.Selection criteria
9.What to include in your nomination
10.Tips for preparing and submitting your nomination
11.Further information and support
Attachment A
Better Practice Awards 2018 - Nomination Guide | 1
1.Introduction
The Australian Aged Care Quality Agency accredits and monitors Commonwealth-subsidised aged care services and conducts quality reviews of home care and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flexible care services. The Quality Agency also promotes consumer-focused quality care through education and engagement activities and works to promote the best quality of care and safety for older Australians.
The new Aged Care Quality Standards will be introduced from July 2018 (subject to Government agreement and parliamentary processes) with a 12 month transition until July 2019. The new Standards will increase the focus on quality outcomes for consumers and make it easier for consumers, their families and representatives to understand what they can expect from a service. They will also make regulation simpler for providers and encourage innovation, excellence and continuous improvement.
Supporting the transition to the new Aged Care Quality Standards is a key priority for the Quality Agency in 2018. The Quality Agency is working with consumers, providers and other key stakeholders to assist service providers to comply and help consumers to understand the new Aged Care Quality Standards.
The Quality Agency’s vision is for a world-class aged care system driven by empowered consumers who enjoy the best possible quality of life. The 2018 Better Practice Awards provide an opportunity to recognise and showcase better practice, innovation and excellence across Australia’s aged care sector with an increased focus on the consumer.
2.About the Awards
Our Better Practice Awards are awarded each year for projects, initiatives or programs that act as exemplars for other service providers to encourage continuous improvement. This year’s awards align to our focus on consumers and the new Aged Care Quality Standards.The Awards recognise better practice, innovation and excellence across the broad spectrum of aged care services including:
- Commonwealth Home Support Program providers
- Home Care Services providers
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible care service providers
- Residential Aged Care Homes
Better Practice Awards recognise better practice through our “Better Practice Commendation Awards”. These awards showcase better practice beyond minimum levels of compliance and focus on quality and safety for consumers.
Better Practice Awards also recognise a smaller number of higher tier“National Innovation and Excellence in Aged Care Awards”. This award recognises providers demonstrating leading edge, innovative practices in aged care that represent ‘excellence’. Up to five awards for this tier will be offered nationally in 2018.
3.Benefits of the Better Practice Awards program
The key benefits of the Better Practice Awards program include:
- gaining recognition through acknowledgement as an ‘exemplar of better practice’ or as ‘a leader in innovation and excellence of national or international note’
- sharing acknowledgement and celebrating success with consumers, managers, staff, visiting health professionals and others involved.
- contributing to sector improvement by sharing better practices that can be adopted.
- using the award to promote service innovation across the sector and to consumers.
Award winners may be invited to present at Better Practice conferences and events in the following year and will be promoted on our website, in our industry newsletter, the Quality Standard, and through presentation ceremonies.
4.Eligibility
To be eligible, applicants must be a Commonwealth funded aged care provider subject to accreditation or quality review by the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency. These include:
- Commonwealth Home Support Program providers
- Home Care Services providers
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible care service providers
- Residential Aged Care Homes
To be eligible, the approved provider’s servicesmust have had no cases of failure to meet the applicable Standards in the 24 months prior to 1 April 2018.
Eligibility is also dependent on the service(s) meeting the applicable Standards up until and including the date the awards are confirmed.
Applicants can nominate for an award for up to three separate projects, initiatives or programs each year.
The project, initiative or program nominated needs to have been in place for a long enough period to demonstrate outcomes for consumers evidenced through qualitative and/or quantitative data. A period of more than 12 months is suggested as appropriate.
Applicants will be asked to agree to the Quality Agency publishing information about their Award-winning program including the use of photos provided as part of the nomination.
5.Selection process
All nominations are assessed by an expert independent panel against the selection criteria and recommended to the CEO of the Quality Agency for endorsement.
It is the role of the independent expert panel to determine successful applicants for both the Commendation Awards and the National Innovation and Excellence in Aged Care Awards.
All applicants complete the same nomination form irrespective of whether their nomination is ultimately determined by the expert independent panel to be awarded a Commendation or National Innovation and Excellence in Aged Care Award.
The Quality Agency does not undertake to provide feedback where nominations are unsuccessful. Award decisions are final and there is no entitlement to review.
6.Key dates
Date / Activity1 April 2018 / Nominations open
30 April 2018 / Nominations close5:00pm
23 August 2018 / Better Practice Awards dinner
22 - 24 August 2018 / 2018 National Conference Better Practice for the Future
The winners of a National Innovation and Excellence in Aged Care Award will be formally presented with their award at a Better Practice Awards dinner, to be held at the close of day 1 of our 2018 National Better Practice conference on 23 August 2018 at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth. Commendation Award winners will be acknowledged, as a group, at this event.
7.Award descriptors
Better Practice Award descriptors are used to help group like applications for assessment by the independent expert panel. Applicants can select one (1) primary descriptor from the list below that best describes the project, initiative or program.
Applicants will then be able to select two (2) additional secondary descriptors; in addition to the primary selected (these must differ from primary).
- Clinical care/Medication management
- Consumer engagement and/or co-design
- Dementia care
- Diversity *
- Enablement and/or transition care
- Health and wellbeing
- Leadership and culture
- Living environment and/or sustainability
- Safety
- Social participation and lifestyle
- Technology and/or social media *
- Workforce development *
*Diversity:This area may include programs and services tailored for diversity groups as defined under ‘special needs’ in the Aged Care Act 1997.There are eight groups of people with special needs mentioned in aged care legislation.
These are:
- people from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities
- people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds
- people from lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans/transgender, queer/questioning and intersex (LGBTQI) communities
- people who are financially or socially disadvantaged
- people who are veterans of the Australian Defence Force or an allied defence force including the spouse, widow or widower of a veteran
- people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless
- people who are care leavers (which includes Forgotten Australians, Former Child Migrants and Stolen Generations)
- people who live in rural or remote areas
*Technology and/or social media:
If submitting a nomination for this descriptor please include the nature and function of the technology deployed and specifically how it is achieving improved consumer outcomes or satisfaction.This descriptor may include projects, initiatives or projects on: the use or implementation of technology, apps or social media, telehealth or assistive technologies.
* Workforce development
If submitting a nomination for this descriptor please include specifically how it is achieving improved consumer outcomes or satisfaction.
8.Selection criteria
All nominations for Better Practice Awards are evaluated against the selection criteria. The nomination should address the criteria but does not need to address each of the dot points, which are for guidance only. There are five selection criteria that must all be addressed.
1.Consumer focus and outcomes
- How have individual needs of consumers been identified and met?
- How have you optimised consumers’ independence, health, wellbeing and quality of life?
- How are services safe and effective and support daily living that meets consumers’ needs, goals and preferences?
- Does the service delivery model or initiative support the ‘total wellbeing’ of aged care consumers - including physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs?
- Are services delivered in a culturally safe and inclusive manner?
- Do consumers have greater choice, independence, control and decision making while maintaining a positive approach to risk and safety?
- How is the workforce skilled and qualified to provide safe, inclusive, respectful and quality care and services?
- Are there improvements in personal or clinical care or consumer safety, health or wellbeing?
2.Partnering with consumers and others
- How has your project, initiative or program been strengthened through partnerships with others in its design, delivery or review?
- Have you engaged in research, community, industry and /or consumer partnerships?
- Have your organisation’s governance and systems been enhanced to support improved decision making in the delivery of care and services through partnerships?
- How have the organisation’s staff partnered with consumers in improving the quality design and delivery of care and services?
- Are there mechanisms in place for consumer engagement/ co-design and feedback and how are these addressed?
3.Evidence-informed approach and measurable outcomes
- Does the project, initiative or program have a sound evidence-informed approach to development and implementation?
- What outcomes measures were set and how were these identified?
- Does evidence include reference to stakeholder needs assessment, best practice models or research that has informed your nomination?
- How has the project, initiative or program been reviewed or evaluated?
- What evidence qualitative and/or quantitative supports measurable outcomes (for example audit results / survey results; benchmark data; stakeholder feedback, testimonials)?
- How is the organisation accountable for safe and quality care and services?
4.Continuous improvement and sustainability
- How are the care and services reviewed regularly for effectiveness?
- How does the project, initiative or program support continuous improvement?
- How has the project, initiative or program impacted on workforce skills and development?
- Is the project, initiative or program sustainable into the future?
- Do you have benchmark data to measure and inform future improvements?
- How has your project, initiative or program supported an organisational culture that achieves continuous improvement?
- What mechanisms do you have in place to support feedback and complaints from consumers and their families and friends?
- How are feedback and complaints used to improve the quality of care and services?
- What organisational governance systems and processes are in place to monitor continuous improvement and sustainability of the project, initiative or program?
5.Exemplar better practice and/or innovation and excellence in aged care
- Explain how the project, initiative or program represents better or innovative practice that acts as an exemplar for other aged care services beyond standard industry good practice.
- Explain if the project, initiative or program builds on other identified examples of good practice and innovating to meet the needs of consumers.
- Are there clear benefits or learnings for the aged care sector, not just the organisation?
- Is there evidence of leading edge national or international thinking and design in aged care service delivery?
- Does the project, initiative or program contribute more broadly to national or international benchmarks of better practice, innovation or excellence in aged care?
9.What to include in your nomination
The nomination must be entered through the online submission portal on our website or via the following link Better Practice Awards online nomination
You must have an account to use the system, enter your first name, last name, email address and create a password. You will need theselog indetails to access your nomination. Note if you have used the system previouslyyou may already have an account, use these log in details or select forgot password to reset it.
When your account is created and you have logged into the system the nomination form will appear, and you can commence completing your nomination.
In addition to the administrative details on the nomination form, you will be required to complete information under the following headings.
As each field is relatively small in the online form, it is advisable that you draft your responses in a word document or similar. Once proof read, you can simply copy and paste text into the applicable fields in the online nomination form.
1.Title (maximum 5 words)
2.Summary
In 1000 words or less, provide a brief introductory summary about your project, initiative or program. Include:
- Why you did it? What was the need? What outcomes did you hope to achieve?
- What you did including an overview of the methodology and who you worked with.
- What you learned including an overview of the approach to evaluation of the outcomes.
3.Evidence against selection criteria
The nomination should address each of the selection criteria in 500 words or less.
- Consumer focus and outcomes
- Partnering with consumers and others
- Evidence informed approach and measureable outcomes
- Continuous improvement and sustainability
- Exemplar of better practice or innovation and excellence in aged care
The dot points listed against the section criteria in this guide are intended to provide guidance for responses. Please do not specifically address each of these.
4.Photographs
All nominations are to include a maximum of 3 high resolution photos as separate image files (e.g.jpeg) along with the privacy consent form (Attachment A). Please do not submit photos as a PDF or collage.
5.Supporting evidence attachments – no more than three pages of supporting evidence should be attached.
One (1) file attachment (PDF) can be uploaded as part of the submission and may include:
- Quantitative data - Charts, tables, graphs, spreadsheets, survey or audit results
- Qualitative data – Testimonials, surveys, feedback
The attachment should contain no more than three (3) A4 sized pages and must be in PDF format.
You do not need to complete your nomination all at once, to save the nomination as draft scroll to the bottom of the form and select the Save Draft button. Your draft is saved and accessible for the duration of the nomination period – 1-30 April 2018.Once you submit your nomination it will be final. No edits can be made without making an online request to the Better Practice Awards Team via the online form.
When you are ready, undertake a final review, using the checklist at the end of the form. Then select the blue Submit button at the bottom of the form to complete your submission. Once you have submitted the nomination, you will receive a confirmation email.
When you have finished, sign out of your account by selecting the Dashboard + button on the top right of your screen. A list of options will appear.
To log back into the application, you can either select the link in your email, or go to Better Practice Awards nomination login.
You will be able to access and edit your submission up until 5:00pm, 30 April 2018. It must be submitted by this time, draft nominations will not be considered by the panel.
10.Tips for preparing and submitting your nomination
- Make sure you address each of the selection criteria and complete all sections of the nomination form.
- All details identifying the home / service and its location should not be referenced in the completion of the summary, selection criteria or included in any of the supporting attachments.
- The use of acronyms and abbreviations should be avoided, unless they are well known.
- Ensure that you reference your research. Where the nomination claims to have used a methodology and/or literature, reference the name, author and other relevant information. It is not credible to state ‘a well-known methodology’ or ‘research clearly demonstrates’ but then not explain what it is.
- Include details of evaluation data (qualitative/quantitate) including trend data to demonstrate improvements over time. If you have run a program for 1-3 years, we would expect to see trend analysis data over this period and how things have been improved – data should not be an ‘add on’.
- Include measurable outcomes for consumers. Many nominations include reference to positive feedback, but do not include the actual results or the data to support the outcomes. Ensure evaluation results are sufficient, valid and substantial. For example, It is not credible to claim a program is successful based on a return rate of 5/25 survey forms being returned, even if these are positive. Consider how you could strengthen or corroborate this data to demonstrate the outcomes.
- Any tables, graphs or supporting material should be clearly labelled and cross-referenced to the selection criteria. This can be uploaded as optional supporting evidence file but should not include details identifying the home/service.
- Do not include audio-visual content or links within your nomination or attachment.
- Ensure that any photos included in the nomination have privacy consent (Attachment A).
- You can nominate for an award for up to three separate projects, initiatives or programs each year.
- Each nomination must be submitted separately.
11.Further information and support