We CAN help
We are here to support you to stay safe, connected and healthy during this Coronavirus crisis.
Whilst we will try our very best to keep supports that work well for you, due to disruption caused by Covid-19 your support may look different from usual. Work days and hours may need to be adjusted and we may need to roster different Support Workers to you. Together we can work through these changes and provide you with the best service possible.
Do you need support to connect socially? Would you like us to pick up and deliver your grocery shopping? We can help you around your home with meal preparations, cleaning and organising. Now might be a great time to learn a new skill?
If you would like supports we CAN help! Find out more at interchangewa.org.au/we-can-help/
Stay Safe!
“The current global COVID-19 crisis challenges us not only as an organisation but also as employers, employees, customers and human beings.
We understand that there are uncertainties and times are tough for everyone. The Board would like to assure you that all our staff are going above and beyond to maintain connections and continue to deliver quality services to you.
We would like to thank all Interchangers for their hard work, dedication and commitment and our valued customers for trusting us in these challenging times with their supports.
We are all doing the best we can to work through this crisis together. Please stay safe and take care.”
Do we support you with your medication?
We want to do all we can to keep you safe and ensure the safety of our staff within our services. We have recently updated our customer medication policy and practice to ensure we are following best practice around prompting and administration of medication.
If you require prescribed or over the counter medication during support hours, this is what will now be in place:
- Interchange Medication Consent Form and Management Plan. Your Team Leader can provide this to you.
- Medication Authority Form provided by your treating doctor with clear instructions for medication dosage and frequency.
- Interchange Medication Signing Record for any medication that staff are required to administer.
- Medications need to be provided in an approved dose administration aid.
- All staff will need authority from their Team Leader to support medication to ensure they are appropriately trained and have demonstrated competency.
Staff who do not have medication administration training will only administer medication to customers if it is an emergency and under instruction from emergency services or medical personnel.
Please discuss your medication needs with your Team Leader. If you would like a copy of our medication policy please email hello@interchangewa.org.au
iConnect – Stay Connected!
You may find that in the current situation people are becoming more physically distant from each other. However, this doesn’t mean that you need to be socially distanced or isolated.
We want to help people to stay connected and have set up the social community group iConnect on Facebook. Here you can connect and communicate with other Interchangers in a safe, friendly and moderated online environment. We are looking forward to seeing you around.
Your support worker can also help you to connect to your family, friends and other community groups via phone, video chat or online. We have multiple How-To-Guides available on our website to help you set up different virtual channels to stay in touch with us and each other.
Have a chat with your Support Worker and find out together what kind of connections would work best for you and the people you care about.
Stay CONNECTED!
WA Disability Support Awards
My support team takes me seriously and they listen to what I want. They helped me changing myself and my life and I couldn’t have done it without them.” – Sharon, Nominator
Our awesome staff bring passion and commitment to their vital roles. We think they are amazing – but the best feedback is always the one coming directly from you.
We would like to thank our valued customers for helping us to nominate ten of our dedicated Interchangers for the WA Disability Support Awards. Our staffs support, encouragement and expertise, does not go unnoticed and in our eyes they are all winners already!
Find out more about the nominees in our stories.
Would you like to acknowledge your Interchange support staff for the great work they do? It’s easy – just nominate them for our iThink You Are Awesome Award at hello@interchangewa.org.au
We are keeping tabs!
Have you noticed a change in your Support Worker? Are they using their phones regularly while supporting you? That’s because we asked them to.
Their phones are the new home of our customer record management system. A secure, confidential and up to date way of storing your information including your name, address, support hours and goals.
We would however like to ask for your permission to collect and use a personal photograph of you for our system. The image will help us to identify you in emergency situations and will only be used within the customer record system. Your support worker can take a photograph of you or you can provide a suitable image if you prefer.
Help us shape Interchange
We strive to deliver quality supports and want to ensure we get it right.
The best and most important feedback is when we hear from you. That’s why we would like to invite you to a Customer Advisory Group.
This group will discuss and shape our services. What are we doing well? Where can we improve? To express your interest please email hello@interchangewa.org.au
Please find a pdf version of this here Interchange Newsletter iNews