The document discusses the challenges faced in recruiting and retaining aged care staff in rural Queensland, emphasizing the need for professional development and support, particularly for indigenous staff. It outlines an ementoring program developed to address these issues, including the implementation phases and participant experiences. The program experienced barriers to participation and suggests longer durations and a 'train the trainer' approach for future initiatives.

1. Implementing an eMentoring program for aged and community care staff in rural and remote Queensland Sarah Stewart 2010 Creative Commons BY http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com

2. Acknowledgements Dept. Health and Aging, Australia who provided project funding All the people who volunteered to be mentors and mentees Aged Care Queensland Inc project team: Anne Livingstone, Anna Lennon, Tania Whyatt and Robin Apps eMentoring project Reference Committee

3. What were the issues that needed to be addressed?

4. Difficult to recruit and retain staff in aged and community care sector in Queensland http://www.flickr.com/photos/34701044@N06/4000009470

5. Rural and remote staff miss out on support and professional development because of geographical isolation

6. Indigenous staff require support and professional development that meets their particular needs

7. Professional development and support for workers is vital for provision of high quality care http://www.flickr.com/photos/23368139@N02/4182053334

8. critical to the sustainability of aged care industry by attracting and retaining younger people http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894180985@N01/2478337872

9. a way to improve staff skill mix and not just staff numbers

10. eMentoring seen by ACQI to be one way of meeting development needs of workforce

11. Program development Jan – May 2009 Development of resources including handbook Advertising & recruiting mentors & mentees Selection and matching mentees with mentors Assessment of computer skills and equipment

13. Development of eMentoring CD Rom with Creative Commons BY license

14. Program implementation May - June 2009 Face-to-face mentoring and computer skills workshops Supporting mentors and mentees in making contact, developing learning plans and developing mentoring relationships Helping out with technology issues Evaluation questionnaire

16. Participants EOI Entered Program Mentees 63 23 Mentors 34 20

18. Why people didn’t participate Too busy with audit and accreditation Attitudes of employers/managers Too busy with other study Unable to attend face-to-face eMentoring workshops Too busy with mentoring student nurses Time frame was too short or did not suit their needs No financial support for time off work Lacking computer skills and confidence Concerns about cost to the organization Prefers face-to-face mentoring

20. Why indigenous people didn’t participate Prefer to work in a face-to-face context, to build a rapport and feelings of trust Concerns about eMentoring relationship arising from such factors as gender, culture, position or time Concerns about privacy and confidentiality in small, close-knit communities Potential fear of ‘failing’ or ‘shame’ by participant Lack of access to the Internet bandwidth, especially in remote areas eg. Thursday Island Lack of computer skills Variability of literacy skills

22. Barriers to participation once enrolled in program Difficulties with technology eg organisational firewalls Lack of time Program too short Mentor or mentee did not get in touch

24. Successes of the program Provided support when none was available Increased computer skills and confidence Introduced people to free, cost-cutting communication tools Introduced people to concepts and benefits of online networking

26. eMentoring handbook re-mashed by Terrance DeShaun for youth eMentoring program in New Orleans http://terrancedeshaun.blogspot.com

27. Recommendations for future programs Longer program – minimum 6 months ‘ Train the trainer’ approach to computer skills Explore benefits/disadvantages of online communities of practice Strategies for embedding technology in the workplace Engage with wider community to share skills and resources

28. sarahstewart07@gmail.com http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com Twitter: SarahStewart