Free online training in telehealth is available to anyone working in or with residential aged care homes in Western NSW.

Western Victoria Primary Health Network, on behalf of a consortia of 15 primary health networks, commissioned the development of a residential aged care-focused telehealth training program.

The program aims to:

  • create consistency in how the aged care sector uses telehealth
  • establish best available practice guidelines for all aspects of telehealth, tailored to the needs of the residential aged care sector
  • help aged care homes embrace the opportunities telehealth provides and manage its risks.


On this page:



Who should undertake telehealth training

 

Onsite staff and clinicians working inside aged care settings

This includes personal care workers, nurses, specialists, managers and other staff working in aged care settings. The program is tailored to the needs of this audience by focusing not only on the practical aspects of telehealth but also how interactions with clinicians can be supported and enabled by aged care staff, residents, their families and carers.

Remote-end clinicians and other health professionals providing medical, health and wellbeing services to the aged care sector, practicing offsite

This includes GPs, medical specialists and allied health professionals like counsellors, dietitians and physiotherapists. The program is tailored to the needs of this audience by focusing not only on the practical aspects of telehealth but also on the models of care most typically associated with aged care patients like wound care and geriatrics.


Why undertake the training

 

The Residential Aged Care Telehealth Training Program provides comprehensive and targeted training specifically for the aged care industry.

It uses an optional up-front diagnostic enabling learners to skip topics they already have expertise in and allowing them to craft a personalised learning pathway.

The training also has accompanying resources to help aged care providers and clinicians plan and implement telehealth and manage associated organisational change.

The training program has been endorsed for continuing professional development points by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), and the Australian College of Nursing.


Program structure

 

The telehealth training program includes two distinct streams:

  • training for Residential Aged Care Home clinicians and staff and
  • training for remote-end clinicians providing telehealth to residents from a location offsite.

Each stream includes a series of eLearning modules. Each module is about 6 minutes long and modules are grouped into the following themes:

  • General
  • Infrastructure
  • Logistics and support
  • Best practice
  • Models of care
  • Troubleshooting

Supplementary resources are also available to help clinicians and aged care providers implement telehealth.


Accreditation

 

The training includes CPD-endorsed components for GPs and nurses (practitioners, registered and enrolled). GPs and nurses may also claim further CPD hours where they have explored additional research, reflected on their practice, or engaged in implementation of the learning.


How to access the training

 

For a list of the catalogue of modules and directions on how to register interest in becoming a host organisation for the training, visit resiagedcaretelehealth.training. 

Any Australian organisation that provides telehealth services from or to a residential aged care home is eligible to host the Telehealth Training Program, on the condition that it is provided to learners for free.

Alternatively, the Residential Aged Care Home Telehealth Training Program is available from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s online learning platform, Alis: Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission |  Online learning – Alis


More information

 

For further information:




Participating Primary Health Networks (PHNs)

  • North Western Melbourne PHN
  • South Eastern Melbourne PHN
  • Eastern Melbourne PHN
  • Western Victoria PHN
  • Gippsland PHN Murray PHN
  • Gold Coast PHN
  • Brisbane North PHN
  • Northern Queensland PHN
  • Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN
  • Coordinare – South Eastern NSW PHN
  • Western NSW PHN
  • Murrumbidgee PHN
  • Healthy North Coast – North Coast PHN
  • Primary Health Tasmania – Tasmania PHN