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Led by Western Victoria Primary Health Network (WVPHN), a consortium of 16 Primary Health Networks (PHNs) across Australia launched the Residential Aged Care Telehealth Training Program this month.

For Residential Aged Care Home (RACH) residents, telehealth – the provision of medical services using videoconferencing – has a multitude of benefits, from reducing the need for unwell or frail residents to leave their homes, to saving clinicians travel time or allowing access to specialists unavailable locally. 

WVPHN CEO, Craig Wilding, said that the training program consists of a series of comprehensive online training modules designed to support telehealth in residential aged care. 

“We are excited about this training, it uses the latest education learning and technology to support professionals working in RACHs, from personal care workers to nurses, managers, onsite clinicians and other health professionals. Two learning streams have been developed to recognise the unique educational needs of both RACH staff and health clinicians who are providing services to residents,” Mr Wilding said.

James Stack, the Managing Director of Obvious Choice, an award-winning learning design agency, whose company created the program, said that the training is made up of a series of short digital learning modules, with an optional up-front diagnostic to help learners decide which modules to complete. 

“Modules are about six minutes long, so they can easily fit around busy schedules. Each module provides practical advice, a checklist and resources to help apply learning quickly. Videos with plain-language closed captions help make the materials more accessible,” Mr Stack said. 

“Microlearning is an ideal way for aged care providers to give staff ongoing professional development in topics like telehealth. Evaluation data from nurses across other telehealth training programs indicate a strong end-user preference for this format,” Mr Stack said.  

Chelsea Chambers, RN, the Director of Nursing at non-for-profit RACH, Jacaranda Village in Red Cliffs in northwestern Victoria, said: “Telehealth has allowed our residents to access specialist appointments that they would not have previously been able to, due to our remote location and inability to travel to their appointments.”

Nurse Practitioner, Amanda Woodlands, who works across with 11 RACHs in NSW, said: “Telehealth reduces the challenges of covering such a large geographical area. With telehealth, I can access residents across the state, from anywhere and at any time. This creates better efficiencies so I can then have more time to be a clinician and not a driver.”

Prue, a RACH resident, said, “It’s exciting as I can see specialist GPs who are far away. It’s also great that I will be able to have my family join in the appointment by dialing in, as sometimes I cannot hear the doctor, or I forget what they have said.” 

Nurses and GPs can claim CPD points for completing the training, with the program fully accredited through the Royal Australian College of GPs, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Australian College of Nursing.

The training program is being made available free of charge Australia-wide to all Commonwealth-funded RACHs and to clinicians who provide telehealth to residents in aged care. It is expected that the training will be provided to learners at no cost, so that all workers who support residents have access to accredited, consistent telehealth training.

Organisations wanting to implement the training can find the training and supporting information at www.resiagedcaretelehealth.training. Training modules can be uploaded to eligible organisations’ Learning Management Systems and set up to suit the individual needs of each organisation. 

PHNs involved in the project include: Western NSW, Western Victoria, South Eastern Melbourne, Murray, Eastern Melbourne, North Western Melbourne, Gippsland, Tasmania, Coordinare (NSW), Murrumbidgee, Healthy North Coast (NSW), Gold Coast, Brisbane North, Northern QLD and Darling Downs West Moreton.