IS OUR ICEBERG MELTING?
BUDGET CUTS,
NEW REGULATIONS,
WHAT IS IMPORTANT TODAY?
WE MUST FEEL THE URGENCY TO ENSURE THAT OUR SERVICES FOCUS ON THE VALUE OF EACH PERSON SERVED. LET'S TALK!
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Posted
by Amanda Skillings on 6/9/2009 at 8:00:55 AM EST.
Subject: Our iceburg |
Community Integrated day program is a wonderfull thing and has helped change alot of our consumers lifes by having them more valued and a better community member and also helped boost their self esteem. I agree with Pam that we work for the consumers!!! it has been a hard but steady transition that we are now starting to see the benefits of. To see our consumers that did not want to even leave the building not only leave but look forward to doing meals on wheels and seeing people. it is great and to see their self esteems boosted as they know more people and feel more valued is amazing. Our iceburg is melting some but we can all make it through and keep it from melting even more by continuing to move forward regardless of our set backs we can always make it through in one way or another. |
Posted
by pam williams on 6/1/2009 at 10:08:35 AM EST.
Subject: Our melting Iceberg |
Is our Iceberg melting ? Yes I beleive it is, the question than becomes is this an OK melting or a serious melt ?!?
Funding cuts, program reviews, regs changing daily, and boy I feel like we are on thin ice. What I took from the book was that we need to take action. There are two ways that this happens, the 1st is the thinkers and the data collectors. This info than needs to be looked at and then communicated to the rest of the team. Here is a key piece for me and that is that good communication is both talking/sharing of info and total listening to the responses given by the team. We can not listen if we are talking. Once this happen than we can look at how change can take place.
At the same time those of us who are feelers/ the folks that sense what is happening and feeling the over all health of the team need to be on board with the data that is collected. We need to be sure that there are those touchable / teachable moments that show us the vision - that let us feel the experience and know that what is being said is do-able. A change in feelings can lead to a big change in behaviors and the team wins.
Do we need to panic? I'm not sure it helps. Do we need to move as quickly as possible? YES !!! The bottlom line is that we provide the best services that we can to the people we work for- the consumers!!! Treating everyone with dignity and respect in this ever changing world that we live in. |
Posted
by Priscilla on 5/21/2009 at 3:13:42 PM EST.
Subject: |
Planful – is that a word? If not, it should be. I too believe that being “planful” is the key, along with a lot of creativity.
I personally feel that focusing on billable hours only and not on the individuals is a step backward but we are mandated to follow the rules and guidelines. In the years that I have been employed at TPC I’ve seen the most remarkable life-altering changes (all good ones) once community inclusion became a major focus. We now have consumers, ones who would never have done so in the past, now anxious and looking forward to and enjoying their time participating in community activities. How great is that!
How do we keep up this good work while following the state guide lines? I certainly don’t have the answer but I would suggest a lot of communications between staff as to what is working for them. We have a lot of creative folks here in all areas of employment. Working together doing some “planful” and creative thinking of ways to include billable hours and community inclusion and then sharing these ideas among staff would be my suggestion to everyone. I feel this problem is something that every employee should be both aware of and concerned about, not just the staff working directly with the consumers. By working together to come up with solutions for this problem we can help keep our iceberg from sailing in the warmer melting waters. |
Posted
by Deb on 5/14/2009 at 7:22:55 AM EST.
Subject: Change...Keeping it Real! |
What we do, how we do it, and what is expected is changing daily. How do we keep each person we support the center of our daily work?
It seems most urgent to me that we focus on the future of community inclusion and integration for those we support. With all the pressure we face to have "billable activities" which seem very focused on a medical model of care how do we keep doing the "real" things for people. I know that relationships are key to people's safety, well being and growth. I know that relationships do NOT exist in real ways for so many of those we support. I also now that we HAVE been working to build community, true community and relationships for ALL the people who attend TPC. So now we must be more diligent and planful than ever before, we must be the BEST TEAM, and face these new realities with new IDEAS, APPROACHES and ENERGY. |
