Residential aged care homes in Gippsland now have access to an innovative education package designed to improve the lives of residents.
Called BERTIE – Better lives for residents through innovative education – the package has been designed and developed in response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. It aims to build capacity and capability in the residential aged care workforce and supports both clinical and non-clinical staff to recognise and manage early signs of deteriorating health of residents.
Gippsland PHN and the other five Victorian PHNs co-funded the BERTIE project. Subject matter experts in the project team included 16 geriatricians, two First Nations clinicians/academics, a registered nurse/health coach, and a resident/consumer expert.
Geriatrician at Aria Health and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Dr Jesse Zanker (pictured above), said key recommendations in the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety related to the educational needs and aspirations of hard-working aged care staff.
“BERTIE directly addresses these needs by providing a broad cross-section of educational content across 20 sub-topics, all related to the care of deteriorating or at-risk residents,” Dr Zanker said.
“It provides a fresh and novel approach to education. The aged care workforce is spread far and wide across the state, so education needs to be delivered in an easily accessible, on-demand and succinct online format.”
