Navigating what comes next…

The mood is tentatively lifting as we move towards eased restrictions in Victoria.?We are moving forward where it feels like lockdowns are behind us making way for hopeful uncertainty.?For most Victorians there is nervous excitement about hair cut appointments and planning catch ups with friends and family.

The rules of the game that include vaccination and more interactions are not yet clear.?They will be established through experience and what happens when COVID is not the only headline.

This brave new world is unfolding as COVID-19 transmission is jumping through the community.?That means it is in high-risk settings that include disability and child, youth, and family services.?In this situation there are people with specific vulnerabilities arising from COVID-19 and, equally, the risk of going without supports and services to meet basic needs.

ONCALL deliver a wide range of assistance to people every day, in their homes, to access community activities, in residential settings and providing workforce to other providers who do the same.?In addition to continuing these essential services, we have direct experience of assisting settings where there are COVID positive cases for COVID surge workforce.?That started in 2020 with over 2,500 hours of support in several outbreaks. In 2021, we have already delivered more surge workforce support than within the first two months of COVID transmission across over 10 settings.

At ONCALL we already know what “living with COVID” means

Together, we are in a truly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous situation. What comes next will need some clear, principled ways of working between multiple stakeholders.?Based on the experience to date, that will require grit, transparency, teamwork, and flexibility.

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Grit. In 2020, ONCALL learnt there is a big difference between a battle plan and a battle.?COVID doesn’t clock off.?The next few months will continue to require grit from clients, families, support workers and everyone who stands behind them to make this work.?The waves of logistics, panicked stakeholders, and the uncertainty of what can be delivered frays nerves and remaining cool under pressure is essential. ?

“We are thrilled with the positive, proactive, and compassionate responses we have had from the ONCALL team everyone has been great to deal with and nothing seems to be too much trouble.”

Transparency.?We will need to work with open and honest communication. People with disability, their families and other providers will need to be honest with each other.?To share the right information in a timely way to keep people safe and situations as under control as possible. We need to build an understanding of speed and channels of communication to provide the right details, but with sufficient boundaries not to breach privacy or lead to overaction.

Teamwork. No one can answer to COVID on their own.?Not an individual, a family, one provider or a health service.?It may require suddenly sharing a roster of support or splitting roles and responsibilities to make sure what is needed is delivered as safely as possible.?We also need to know our limits, not promising services that are not coming. This will assist others with dynamic and interdependent decisions.

Flexibility. Every day will require dynamic risk-based response.?Public health rules are a blunt instrument, and they don’t fit well with delivery of supports and services. Neither do hospital level infection control measures for hospital environments work in family homes.?Great disability support assists people with basic tasks and at close range.?There will need to be dedicated efforts to daily management meetings and continual communication to keep stakeholder up to date, but not overburdened.??

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In the next phase it’s time to bunker down, but it is not time to put our heads in the sand.?Individuals, families, and providers will need to balance assisting people to enjoy life where that is safe, to deliver quality, consistent support and create a safe work environment once COVID is in any location.?

With grit, open communication, teamwork and managing dynamic risk we will come out the other side together.

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Laura is the Executive Director Victoria for ONCALL Group Australia. Laura is an experienced disability services professional, starting over 17 years ago as a support worker for people with complex support needs in England and Australia. Since then, Laura has worked in non-government, government and consulting in areas including disability service design, housing options planning, community education and commissioning.