ASSESSING READINESS
ASSESSING READINESS
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Assessing Readiness is a critical step when considering implementing the National Respite Care Provider Training (NRCPT). How does an agency, organization, or coalition know it's ready? What are the key elements that should be in place before moving forward? This section offers step-by-step considerations before you begin.
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Organizational Buy-In
Organizational Buy-In
The meaning of organizational buy-in on a project is when an organization or a coalition, as a whole, agrees with the mission and goals of the project. Everyone is on board with what they are trying to achieve and why. So, who is everyone? Identifying partners is key to the success of this endeavor, especially with promotion and recruitment.
When developing organizational buy-in, consider:
What key partners can you identify that align with your project's vision, mission, objectives, and target audience?
What criteria will you utilize to evaluate potential partners for relevance, reputation, resources, and reciprocity? A lot of organizations want to be a part of an impactful project, but it is important they understand there will be expectations of time, commitment, and resources.
What will be the roles and expectations of the partners you identify, especially regarding help with the recruitment of potential learners?
How will you assess the genuine interest and willingness of potential partners to commit? Consider hosting an informational meeting on the NRCPT to hear their perspectives.
Tip: A great way to create organizational buy-in is to establish strong relationships with agencies that administer long-term care waiver programs and other Medicaid-funded programs that benefit family caregivers. This adds credibility to your project and assists with promotion that can lead to increased organizational buy-in.
Capacity
Capacity
Once you have identified partners, it is important to explore your capacity to implement the NRCPT and recruit potential learners. Depending on how you plan to implement the NRCPT, it will require staff, infrastructure, and other resources.
For capacity needs, you will need to consider these questions:
How will you promote the NRCPT and recruit learners?
What data will be collected and how?
Will state-specific slides be researched, developed, and added to the training curriculum?
Will the training curriculum be hosted on your learning platform? Or will you partner with the Respite Care Association of Wisconsin to use their training platform?
Answering the following questions in advance will help you better determine the project's staffing needs.
When it comes to staff, some things to consider are:
Do you have enough staff to recruit respite providers and manage the NRCPT?
Who is going to field calls and emails? Learners will have questions no matter how much instruction is available to them.
Who will become the expert on the contents of the training? Will multiple staff be needed?
Which staff will research and develop state-specific training slides if the determination is made that these will be needed?
What data will you collect, and how will it be collected? Who will manage that?
Who will be responsible for developing strategies for the recruitment of potential learners? Who will help promote the NRCPT and recruit learners, and how will they do it? Presentations? Social Media? Webinars?
Tip: It is helpful to have more than one person understand the training, how to access it, where to go for tech support, how to answer learners' questions, etc. Having only one person serve in this role is not sustainable and is not recommended.
For technology needs and support, you should consider:
What technology do you have and what technology do you need? Do you have a learning platform in place, or will you partner with RCAW to use their training platform?
Who is going to learn how to use and monitor the online learning platform?
Will staff who are managing other components of the NRCPT also be responsible for the learning platform technology?
Will staff have tech support for software needs, training content, data collection, or platform issues?
Tip: It is helpful to host the NRCPT on a learning platform designed for online training that includes automation for training registration confirmation emails, standardized reports, or the ability to create customized data reports to minimize staff time.
To determine if you have sufficient funding to implement the NRCPT and recruitment strategies, consider:
How will staff time be funded?
How will training platform costs be funded initially and over time?
Are resources available to develop print materials and social media graphics?
Are new funding sources needed to pay for technology support or build a respite registry?
Managing the NRCPT project will certainly require time and resources. The more clearly you identify the steps needed to implement and follow up with your recruitment and training project, (i.e., registry, partner identification, promotional materials, recruitment strategies), the more informed you will be on estimating the time and resources you are going to need.
Tip: Each of these activities will require time, commitment, and possibly additional financial resources. It is important to establish roles, responsibilities, and expectations so everyone is on the same page.
Connecting Trained Providers to Families
Another aspect to consider is how will you connect learners who complete the NRCPT with family caregivers looking for respite care providers to provide much needed respite? This is a pivotal task to consider as it may be the linchpin for ensuring successful respite for families.
When considering the need for, and the role of a registry, some things to consider are:
What mechanism will be used to store/list trained respite care workers? i.e., Excel Spreadsheet that is managed by staff? A simple listing of providers on a website? A searchable platform where family caregivers can conduct specific searches?
What data do you want to be contained on each respite care provider's profile?
How will people access this information? Fill out a form? Register and have an account? Just call and ask staff?
How much will your approach cost?
Tip: A registry doesn't need to be complicated, but it is recommended to have one, even if it is basic. The NRCPT is much more well received by both learners and family caregivers when there is a free, searchable tool for them to connect.
Sustainability
Sustainability
It is important to develop a sustainability plan before implementing the NRCPT. A sustainability plan will help ensure that others buy into, utilize, and consider the training a valuable resource.
To build momentum and to keep moving forward, it is important to stay on task and establish milestones and timeframes to complete them. Assign each task to a partner and hold each other accountable through routine check-in meetings. Communication is key to keeping everyone on the same page.
Establish an overall budget and identify what resources already exist and what resources need to be attained. Specify where the current resources are from, and who will be responsible for applying for grants or securing additional resources.
The NRCPT is intended to be a highly sustainable program that can be administered at nominal costs. However, the key to its success is getting the word out. Promotion is one of the biggest commitments to implementing and sustaining the NRCPT. Learners need to know the training is available, and family caregivers need to know that trained respite care providers are available. Attrition may occur as trained workers make connections with and commit to providing respite to family caregivers. Informing everyone that this is a free program and, if running well, will continue to add new trained respite care providers daily, weekly, monthly, and annually to replace those serving family caregivers. This is a good thing!
Tip: For recruitment of potential learners, find learner/feeder outlets such as Institutions of Higher Education, your State's Health Occupation Student Association (HOSA), or your State's Area Health Education Centers (AHEC). These are just a few examples of where to find individuals who are already looking to enter the healthcare field.
Assessing Readiness Tool
Assessing Readiness Tool
An Assessing Readiness Tool can help guide you through the process of assessing your agency or organization’s readiness to implement the NRCPT and recruit potential providers. It is best if this process occurs with all staff who will be implementing the recruitment and training project.
You can customize the documents to meet your needs.
To download the Assessing Readiness Tool in a PDF format, click here.
To download the Assessing Readiness Tool in Excel format, click here.
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
The following are lessons learned from the pilot project related to assessing readiness:
Buy-in from all partners is vital to success.
Buy-in and commitment from all partners at multiple levels is vital to the success of implementing and maintaining the NRCPT. The project should be viewed as an integral part of the agency’s work. The project will be most successful with dedicated time and resources.
Ensure all parties involved have a clear understanding.
The purpose of the NRCPT is to expand the pool of trained respite care workers. The NRCPT is a free, online, entry-level training. The learner does not attain any type of professional or government sanctioned certification. Wrong perceptions about the project may draw wrong conclusions and negatively impact the project.
Having a provider registry or another way to connect learners to family caregivers is critical.
Agencies involved in the pilot were most successful when they had a provider registry or a way to connect learners to opportunities to provide respite care. Pilot sites without a registry or another means of connection to respite opportunities received feedback from learners that they lost interest in starting and completing the training. When there is a direct bridge connecting a provider to someone in need of a break, individuals are more likely to register for the NRCPT. If you do not have a way to connect respite providers with family caregivers, you may want to consider waiting to implement the NRCPT until you do.
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