154164 - Adaptation among aged care and disability service providers.pdf (753.69 kB)
Adaptation among aged care and disability service providers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for the future
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-21, 14:46 authored by Ami SeivwrightAmi Seivwright, Kaleveld, L, Meltzer, A, Atkins, M, Varadharajan, M, Campbell, P, Callis, Z, Wilson, EAged care and disability service organizations are critical infrastructure. However, in 2020, restrictions were introduced to reduce the infection risk of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and these organizations needed to quickly devise COVID-safe ways of working to continue to meet the needs of their clients. To investigate how these organizations adapted their service delivery and which innovations they felt were worthwhile for sustaining beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, interviews were undertaken with representatives from 26 aged care and disability service organizations across three states in Australia (Western Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria). Findings revealed that organizations adapted their practices across three key innovation areas: (1) developing new approaches or expanding existing services, particularly around food provision, social connection, information dissemination, and technology support; (2) modifying the mode of service delivery, through safe in-person contact or offering alternative online services; and (3) reducing bureaucracy and introducing remote working. A common theme across all service innovations was the strong focus on providing clients and staff with choice and control. Moving forward, many organizations wanted to integrate and maintain these innovations, as they were associated with additional benefits such as increased client health and safety, service flexibility, and sufficient human resources to serve clients. However, continued maintenance of some initiatives require additional resourcing. The continuation of COVID-19 pandemic adaptations and, indeed, ongoing innovation, would therefore be facilitated by greater flexibility of funding to allow organizations and their clients to determine the service types and modes that best meet their needs. Further, these innovations have implications for sector-wide best practice.
History
Publication title
Frontiers in Health ServicesArticle number
1037256Number
1037256Pagination
1-19ISSN
2813-0146Publisher
Frontiers Research FoundationPlace of publication
SwitzerlandRights statement
© 2022 The Author(s) & Frontiers Media S.A. All rights reserved. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Repository Status
- Open