Starlight Children s Foundation and Earbus Foundation of WA. An Impactful Partnership

Transcription

1 Starlight Children s Foundation and Earbus Foundation of WA An Impactful Partnership Sarah Moeller Research and Evaluation Manager Starlight Children's Foundation Lara Shur Director, Clinical Services Earbus Foundation of WA Copyright and commercial- in- confidence Not to be distributed without permission

2 Acknowledgement Starlight Foundation and Earbus Foundation acknowledge the Bama people the Aboriginal rainforest people who are traditional custodians of the lands that cover this region. We meet on Traditional land today and we work on Traditional Land in WA. We also acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who call this region home. We pay our respects to the Elders past and present. And acknowledge the Elders of the future on this land and also the land on which we work - the children we work with.

3 Exploring the successful partnership between Starlight & Earbus How collaboration between two organisations can create an optimal environment for clinical aims to be achieved 1. Who we are Introducing the Starlight Children s Foundation and Earbus Foundation of WA 2. Collaboration for Impact Conditions for Success 3. Impact 4. Additional Benefits & Future Directions

4 The Starlight Children s Foundation Since 1988, Starlight has been delivering programs, in partnership with health professionals, which support the total care of children, young people and their families who are living with a serious illness or a chronic health condition. Starlight has a commitment to reaching regional and remote areas and numerous programs have been operating throughout all of Australia since the beginning of the Foundation in 1988.

5 The Earbus Foundation of WA The Aim of Earbus work is reducing the impact of Otitis Media (middle ear disease) in Indigenous and at-risk children in Western Australia below the World Health Organization benchmark of 4%. Earbus employs audiologists, nurses, GPs and ENTs to treat children within a interdisciplinary primary health care framework. Earbus mobile ear health clinics take services to the client in schools, day-cares, kindergartens and playgroups.

6 Collaborate for Impact Collaborative Social Impact comes from better cross-sector coordination rather than from the isolated intervention of individual organisations...substantially greater progress could be made... if nonprofits, governments, businesses, and the public were brought together around a common agenda to create collective impact J Kania & M Kramer, Collective Impact Stanford Social Innovation Review (Winter 2011)

7 5 Conditions for success 1. Support of a Common Goal Shared purpose: Reduce the incidence of Otitis Media below the World Health Organisation s benchmark of 4%. Both partner organisations and their team members are actively committed to this goal. 2. Continuous communication Communication on the ground and at a management level. Formal and informal interagency communication where issues are dealt with within a framework of continuous improvement and a culture of no blame. All team members can provide feedback on positive and negative experiences and these are acted upon by the managerial team in a timely manner.

8 Conditions for Success Cont. 3. Shared measurement system (SMS) Developing a SMS, which outlines how success is measured and reported, is essential to achieving the common goal 1. Currently Earbus and Starlight both record: - the number of children attending clinic - clinical outcome be it a pass result, refer result or review result. The team are also discussing other shared measurements that can be used as an evaluation tool going forward. 4. Mutually reinforcing activities Each organisation undertaking the specific set of activities at which it excels in a way that supports and is coordinated with the activities of the other organisation. Team members work cohesively and present themselves a one team to communities - including a shared Code of Conduct introduced to ensure a uniform standard of behaviour. 1 Kania, J., & Kramer, M. (2011). Collective Impact. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from

9 Conditions for Success Cont. 5. A staffed backbone organisation Successful collaboration also requires dedicated staff and resources to coordinate the collaborative efforts. Earbus is the backbone supporting organisation in this partnership, with Earbus staff planning, managing, and supporting the logistics of all outreach trips.

10 Achievements Results after 30 months Goldfields OM refer rate 22.4% (down from 54% at start of 2014) Hearing Loss 11.6% (was 17%) Chronic Ear Disease 3% - now below WHO benchmark (was 12%) Pilbara OM refer rate 15.4% (down from 52% at start of 2014) Hearing Loss 7.96% (down from 22%) Chronic Ear Disease 3.5% - now below WHO benchmark (was 19%)

11 Impact Increased attendance and a mechanism for reducing anxiety in some children awaiting their turn. Enhance the relationship between the Indigenous community and health professionals, by working with the youngest members of the community, creating a positive, anxiety-free healthcare experience, the aim is to facilitate a change in attitude towards healthcare.

12 Additional Benefits & Future Directions Earbus and Starlight have also noted additional benefits from collaborating with each other, including: The ability to pool limited resources to achieve a common goal, Increased credibility, and Enhanced awareness of who we are. Earbus and Starlight are planning to undertake additional research in 2017 to ensure the program is meeting the needs of Indigenous and at-risk children in Western Australia.

13 Contacts Sarah Moeller Research and Evaluation Manager Starlight Children's Foundation Lara Shur Director, Clinical Services Earbus Foundation of WA Direct: Direct: