Congratulations to the Operations Education Team who have been nominated for not one, but two awards – the Plain English Award and the New Zealand Aged Care Association (NZACA) Arjo Staff Training award.
The awards focus on the myRyman Life e-learning tool.
A large collaborative team, led by Operations Clinical and Quality Manager Karen Lake, developed a bespoke model of dementia care called myRyman Life, which aims to improve quality of life for residents living with dementia. Team Leader Libby Doran, Instructional Designer Amelia Ong, and eLearning Designer Joey Weaver turned those concepts into a digestible tool.
The comprehensive package of training was developed to support residents and Ryman team members with the aim to partner with people living with dementia and create happiness in the moment through meaningful and intentional interactions. The eLearning module is a user-friendly and highly interactive eLearning tool.
“This is a total dream come true” said Doran.
“Ryman Academy is committed to giving our teams the best educational support to give them the tools to do their best for our residents.
“I know our teams will be chuffed that the learning they receive is recognised by the NZACA. It’s inspiring and energises us to keep innovating!”
The eLearning tool was in development over two years before it was released to staff.
“What started with Karen Lake and I creating a PowerPoint for the board has turned into a best in breed eLearning tool backed up by sector-leading micro-credential and piloting a brand-new care companion role,” said Doran.
“Seeing the project grow and get refined as we brought on new talent is mind-blowing and satisfying. It’s pretty cool!!”
The team developed a matrix style whiteboard to analyse the audience and content so they could see if the project would work for a broad audience.
“That was just the content strategy side. After that came the plain English content writing,” said Doran.
“Amelia Ong is a maestro with complex content and working with SMEs (subject matter experts) to write content that sings. This was no mean feat as we built the plane while we were flying it.”
The eLearning tool was developed concurrently as the research into the model of care occurred.
From there, they focussed on designing learning activities, and finally the complexities of developing those activities.
“Joey Weaver is an absolute expert at his craft, the best of the best. This involved some JavaScript, animation and formulas – you can see why we nabbed him from the states!”
To date more than 9,000 Rymanians and people in the community have completed the eLearning module which includes next of kin of our residents.
“It’s a real kick to be able to give our staff learning and development tools that contribute to their giving the very best of care,” explained Doran.
“Every single person involved in this project has that sparkle inside. We are all, at an individual level, committed to addressing stigma, protecting the rights, being inclusive and ultimately increasing quality of life for everyone with links to Dementia.
“I love representing Ryman in this area as we strive to deliver the absolute gold standard in dementia care.”
The Plain English awards will be announced on the 14 October via a virtual day time conference, while the NZACA awards will be announced at the conference in March (2022).
