BUSHkids 2016-17 Annual Report

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L e a r n i n g a n d D e v e l o p m e n t

Telehealth Framework Telehealth involves the delivery of healthcare services at a distance using telecommunications technology, for example, via the internet. BUSHkids is partnering with the Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) in Telehealth at The University of Queensland, on a lengthy and detailed research project. This aims to enable BUSHkids to improve access to our services for clients living in rural and remote areas. The project comprises a needs analysis, telehealth pilot studies, and recommendations for ongoing telehealth services. The entire project is expected to take three to four years to complete. A full-time PhD student, Jessica Campbell, is being supervised by the UQ advisory team: Professor Deborah Theodoros, Professor Trevor Russell, Associate Professor Nicole Gillespie and Dr Nicole Hartley. In 2015-2016 the doctoral student has worked closely with BUSHkids through Felicity Rayner, the BUSHkids Telehealth Project Officer based at the Emerald Centre. Jessica and her advisory team have completed the first stage of research – Service Gap Analysis – which looked at BUSHkids’ service delivery and the willingness of stakeholders to adopt telehealth. Stage 1 findings were discussed with BUSHkids’ leadership and staff and used to collaboratively plan the second stage of research, involving three pilot studies. The services selected for telehealth delivery testing are: A Steady Start to School (ASS2S) education sessions, psychology services and Speech- Language Pathology services. Service descriptions for these services were developed and detailed technology analysis was undertaken by the doctoral student, research team, and BUSHkids staff. The project design for the second stage is currently being considered by the UQ Human Research Ethics Committee, and the research is anticipated to continue until late 2018.

Read and Grow Read and Grow is an interactive, parent-child story-sharing program that was developed by the Northern Gold Coast Communities for Children. Read and Grow is an emergent literacy program that provides skills for parents and carers to make reading a fun and engaging activity and allows the modelling of reading skills. BUSHkids introduced Read and Grow at the 2015 Conference and we have continued to develop and expand the reach of this emergent literacy program. Our SLPs have incorporated the program into all levels of service including individual sessions, targeted group and community capacity-building activities. The DSS-funded Early Intervention Facilitators have also incorporated Read and Grow into individual sessions, run targeted groups and also provide community capacity-building activities targeting child care workers. Staff are becoming trained to run ‘train the trainer’ Read and Grow, parent group education and the five home-visits Read and Grow program developed by BUSHkids in 2016. The Read and Grow approach is also used to develop playgroup plans. Across the BUSHkids Children and Parenting sites, we are facilitating a minimum of 250 Read and Grow playgroups each year.

After a pilot trial in the Stanthorpe area in 2017, the five home-visits Read and Grow program is now being used across the State and has shown positive results, with families beginning regular reading routines and purchasing books for their children. The home visit program was developed to support vulnerable families who are unlikely to attend a parent education session or visit a local library. Supporting vulnerable families to access local library services has been integral to the longer-term aims of the program and BUSHkids has been working closely with regional librarians. BUSHkids, Read and Grow Northern Gold Coast, Griffith University and ACT for Kids hope to look at research around the home visit program to move it from an evidence-informed program to an evidence-based program in the future.

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