When Things Go Wrong: Risk and Incident Management in Home Care (SAH)

This course equips home care workers with the knowledge and skills to recognise, respond to and report risks, concerns and incidents that may affect the safety or wellbeing of older people receiving services in home and community settings. 

This course contains 4 modules:

• (SAH-RCON) Understanding Risks and Concerns (approx. 15 mins)
• (SAH-OPND) Open Disclosure in Home Care (approx. 30 mins)
• (SAH-ELDR) Safeguarding Older People: Recognising and Responding to Elder Abuse (approx. 30 mins)
• (SAH-SIRS) SIRS Explained: Recognising Reportable Harm Connected to Care and Services (approx. 75 mins)

To complete this course, you must successfully complete all the modules above.

Module 1 of 4:

Understanding Risks and Concerns

This resource provides the basic information and tools you need to perform your critical role in improving the safety of participants, care teams and the home environment by identifying and reporting risks and concerns.  

It contains information about:

• The types of risks and hazards that occur in home environments and how to assess and prioritise them.
• The STOP AND WATCH early warning tool
• Working within the scope of your role
• The ISS (Identify, Assess, Act) approach to assessing and prioritising risks
• Psychological help and support
• Working alone
• Documenting care notes

Module 2 of 4:

Open Disclosure in Home Care

After completing this module, you will be better able to:

• Define Open Disclosure and how it relates to the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards
• Identify occurrences that must be disclosed
• Describe how to use open disclosure, including the application of communication strategies
• Explain how to encourage and support a culture of positive feedback and own up to mistakes

Module 3 of 4:

Safeguarding Older People: Recognising and Responding to Elder Abuse

After completing this module, you will be better able to:

• Name the different types of elder abuse in home and community settings
• Recognise the warning signs and risk factors that someone might be unsafe or experiencing abuse
• List what to do if you see, hear, or suspect abuse, including who to tell and how to report it

Module 4 of 4:

SIRS Explained: Recognising Reportable Harm Connected to Care and Services

After completing this module, you will be better able to:

• Explain what the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) is
• Recognise how the new Aged Care Standards help prevent and respond to reportable incidents
• Identify the 8 types of reportable incidents under the SIRS
• Distinguish SIRS-reportable incidents from other incidents
• Determine how and when to report an incident to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC)
• Outline your responsibilities when you witness or suspect a reportable incident
• Use protective actions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of older people