Speak Out June 2021

female and enjoy the flexibility of working from home, choosing their own hours and achieving a balance between work and family life. They have an average of 15 years’ experience since graduation.” Practitioners who work at Therapy Connect can clearly see the benefits of telepractice for both the clients they serve as well as for themselves, balancing work and life demands. “Our practitioners have mostly had an experience or connection to people in rural or remote locations and are actively seeking to work with these client groups and adopt innovative ways to deliver their clinical skills," said Sue. Why online works for me? Kirstyn - QLD based speech pathologist and mother of 2. “I think working via telehealth enables us to be able to work from the location where our heart is at. You can work from the community that you choose to work from, whether that be rural/remote, whether that be in the city, whether that be close to family. Working from home doesn’t necessarily mean working from home, it can mean working from the place of someone, a sick relative perhaps, which I’ve done in the past as well, or continuing work, as I did, while traveling around Australia. So, gone are the days when we have to think about moving to the city to work. We can actually think about where we want to live, and then choose our work from there. “I’ve worked from some pretty remote locations. I’ve set up offices on beaches before, because that’s where we’ve had better internet service. I’ve worked from really remote locations in the middle of Australia, right down to the bottom of Tassie where I had perfect reception (although I didn’t think I was going to). "Personally, I think the work-life balance working for Therapy Connect has been really amazing, and beneficial for my family as well. Supporting our remote practitioners, most of whom have never met in person. Flexible work hours The flexibility of the online work from home model is very suited to autonomous, experienced practitioners. The model supports practitioners selecting their work hours and structuring their working days to suit other life commitments. Practitioners can work full days or part days across the week for a minimum of 16 hours per week. The different time zones can be used to the practitioners’ advantage, extending flexible appointment times earlier or later in the day. The flexibility of work hours is a significant benefit of the model for practitioners and a priority for the During COVID-19, many allied health professionals, who have been forced into online service provision, have discovered that telehealth adds a layer of complexity which takes time to master. Therapy strategies and resources need to be adapted to enable services to be delivered online. Therapy Connect provides practitioners with training and access to digital resources so that high quality and organisation to maintain. Professional support

evidence based practice can be delivered. The training is tailored 1:1 to cover among other topics, best practice guidelines in telehealth, technology applications and equipment needed for sessions and resources and tools to support clinical delivery. As our practitioners progress in their telehealth skills we continue to support adoption of new techniques and skills to facilitate quality clinical service delivery. As the size of the team has grown significantly, our organisation has needed to find ways to connect, support and mentor each other. Working with a flexible, part time, remote employment model across three different time zones makes this a challenge! We have developed a variety of tools for different reasons to support each other. “Real time” programs include video conference group catch ups for newcomers, scheduled coffee "pop in" times with lead practitioners to work collaboratively and seek support and supervision, in-house webinars for professional development with topics such as coaching methods or play, conducting regular client joint telehealth sessions with other disciplines and journal clubs.

Speech pathologists Kirstyn O'Rourke, Katie Buckley, Sima Hall and Meg Tasker discuss their journeys in telehealth.

“On demand” favourites, accessed by the team when it suits work schedules, include the Goggle Drive resource library and video files on telepractice techniques, the ‘Water Cooler’ Google Chat group to facilitate informal and personal chit chat within the workplace and ‘Friday Fivers,’ which are five minute videos, created and shared by our lead practitioners to showcase new evidence-based information and innovative tips and tricks to further develop our telepractice skills. “Since starting with Therapy Connect, strangely, I have felt more connected to the workplace and colleagues than in any of the other part time jobs I have worked in. I have felt appreciated, trusted and valued. The range of connection points provides options for us all to connect in a way that is flexible and productive,” said Tracy an occupational therapist.

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June 2021 | Speak Out