BUSHkids Annual Report 2015-16

LEADS

Professional Leads

Psychologists

Speech-Language Pathologists

Supervision has been provided to the psychology team via individual and group formats. As all current Psychologists within BUSHkids are provisionally registered, weekly supervision is required by APHRA to ensure they receive a high level of training and support. Each team member also receives external supervision to contribute to a varied knowledge and skill-base. Staff have also provided recordings of their sessions and received constructive feedback on their sessions with families. A number of PD activities have been completed during the last year, including training in:

Individually and as a team, we have addressed issues around best practice for intervention, resource development, productivity and training needs. Several team members are new to the profession and are building basic competency skills for clinical practice. Other more experienced team members are participating in clinical research and project development, extending their expertise into specific evidence-based practice such as emergent literacy approaches, narrative and play, telehealth and parent- child relationships for learning.

SUPERVISIONAND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Triple P • Bullying • Motivational Interviewing • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

During 2015-16, we said farewell to Psychologists from the Dalby and Warwick Centres. Liaison with the University of Southern Queensland contributed to the successful recruitment of two Provisional Psychologists for our Dalby and Bundaberg Centres, while in Warwick our temporary Provisional Psychologist was appointed permanently. Although the remaining Mount Isa psychology position continues to be vacant, a number of active recruitment strategies are in place to achieve a full psychology team. The 2016 Conference was an outstanding Professional Development opportunity, particularly for the discipline- specific day. The psychology team had identified a key learning need of understanding and supporting children with ASD. Autism Queensland provided a half-day workshop focusing on younger children, while Dr Michelle Garnett from Minds and Hearts provided a half-day workshop on supporting older children. Both presentations provided staff with a range of strategies and techniques to fill our ‘toolkits’ to better support families. Our two newly appointed Provisional Psychologists were able to attend which has ensured that the team has a consistent evidence-based understanding of working with families with ASD. Both presentations were recorded and are available for all BUSHkids staff.

Warwick, Dalby and Bundaberg Centres have experienced some changes to their staffing during the year. Recruitment has been successful.

STAFFINGAND RECRUITMENT

Conference was a great opportunity for the Speech- Language Pathology team to showcase novel service delivery approaches, celebrate successes and to welcome several new members to the team. Topics included Telehealth, Read and Grow, Outreach, Playgroups, Narrative and Play.

CONFERENCE

This year I was able to visit Warwick, Emerald and Bundaberg. Key outcomes include: • 1:1 supervision and whole-of-team meeting

The Speech-Language Pathology Lead visited Warwick and Dalby Centres during the year for supervision and to co-present Read and Grow.

REGIONALVISITS

• review of services for last 12 months • goals and planning ahead for service • in-service presentation • observation of clinical practice • meetings with key stakeholders

The psychology team is looking forward to providing more groups in future with a focus on ADHD, Cool Kids Anxiety Disorder Group, A Steady Start to School and a seminar relating to Fatherhood. Triple P continues to be part of our core business and parents will be able to access 1:1 programs or seminars.

In 2017, our preliminary work in these evidence-based practice fields will be extended to program development, resource sharing and training.

THEYEARAHEAD

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