This month we attended a webinar about work integrated learning and ensuring the integrity of quality course outcomes for different professions. The Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) have been having critical conversations about ensuring quality placement and have developed a framework called a Work Integrated Learning (WIL) quality assurance framework. If you want to have a look at the framework, here is the link:
The DRTA has a stakeholder component and this needs to be considered when redeveloping our accreditation documentation in the next six months.
We also attended the Mental Health – Governance and Funding Webinar. There were 140 people in attendance discussing the overhauling and contemporising of the mental health system. The previous webinar discussions focussed on workforce, while the most recent webinar was on governance and funding. The webinar in November is scheduled to look at change management.
Conceptualisation during the webinar discussed access being a key issue for consumers, considerations around technology and how treatment modalities have changed. There was development of ideas on how public and private stakeholders could potentially work together, especially when the system is not linear.
Governance was also discussed in the webinar at a number of different levels. At a system design with consideration for the role of social determinants, thinking about the pathways and getting the pathways right. This is about ensuring the consumer is receiving the appropriate care with different individuals and each organisation playing their role.
The webinar talked about how the current system has a lack of interconnectedness and one of the biggest issues is follow up with consumers which is a critical issue and not a new phenomenon. We are trying to deliver a simple solution from the chaos of complexity. This will also take reconsideration about how new methodologies value what is done when thinking about outcomes and what is measured.
This year the AGM had a great turn out with 45 additional attendees compared to what we had last year. There were 2 new board members appointed. This was Jade Gilchrist as the Queensland Representative and Daniella Greenwood as the Victoria Representative.
At our board meeting this month we discussed possible changes being made to the DRTA Constitution, which has not had any changes since its inception 10 years ago. With those discussion and subsequent changes, this would then be taken back to our members to vote on. Before the board makes any changes we thought it be pertinent if our members have any ideas about what they would like to include in the constitution, please give feedback in the following link: https://forms.gle/D9QCv1NytbpNyefL7
At the global leaders meeting this week we discussed some tentative dates for cross collaboration and will have these formalised by the next newsletter as we are still looking at time differences and the best time for the most people to have access to these events.
We also held a one-day workshop on research and talked about perhaps meeting every three months to help give each other a bit of a push with doing research as a community of practice (CoP). If there are any other members interested in a joining a research CoP please contact the office. They will put your name on a mailing list and we will email in January/ February with a range of dates and times to work out the best time to schedule the meeting over Zoom.
Diana will also be on leave in November (on Thursdays) in December and January. Jodi will still be in the office in November through until mid-December.
Until December,
Charlise Bennett
DRTA President