• Table of Contents
• Parliamentary Secretary Foreword
• Purpose of this toolkit
• 1. Background
• 2. Introduction to quality improvement
• 3. Getting started
• 4. Management systems
• 5. Staff recruitment, retention, training and development
• 6. Advocacy access
• 7. Tailoring advocacy to individual needs
• 8. Decision making and choice
• 9. Complaints and disputes
• 10. Privacy, dignity and confidentiality
• 11. Participation and integration
• 12. Valued status
• 13. Protection of human rights and freedom from abuse
• Appendix 1: Concepts related to quality
• Appendix 2: Disability Services Standards and Supporting Standards
• Appendix 3: Draft Disability Advocacy Standards

National Disability Advocacy Program Quality Improvement Toolkit

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• Next: 1. Background

Purpose of this toolkit

This Toolkit is designed to provide practical tools, resources and advice to assist NDAP funded organisations develop and improve how advocacy work is organised and controlled to ensure consistent practice in line with agreed standards. These processes are often called quality management.

The Toolkit is in no way prescriptive, it is a resource for you to use as needed to support quality improvement.  All agencies will approach the quality improvement process from different stages, and it is not expected that you will adopt all policies or practices or use all resources in this Toolkit, particularly where you already have quality management practices in place.  Given the different approaches to advocacy, not all of the policies in this Toolkit will apply to you, but effort has been made to ensure a range of resources that suit the different advocacy agencies.  It has been developed in consultation with advocacy agencies.

The Toolkit is divided into ten sections based on ten quality themes.  You do not have to complete all ten sections of the Toolkit.  You can choose to start working through any section and might choose to work on only some of the sections that are particularly relevant to the agency.  Where you already have systems in place to ensure quality, you may use the sections as a way of gauging how your practice is going.

Inside this Toolkit you will find:  

• background information (refer Section 1)
• an introduction to quality improvement (refer Section 2)
• a guide to getting started, including the quality improvement process (refer Section 3)
• ten quality theme sections, each of which contains:
  • some advocacy agencies’ approaches to management and quality improvement for the particular theme
  • things to consider to help in writing up a checklist for your agency
  • a self-assessment worksheet to scan and document your agency’s practice
  • examples of evidence, as a resource for completing the self-assessment worksheet
  • a quality improvement implementation worksheet to plan and document the improvement actions your agency undertakes
  • practical resources including forms and templates
  • sample policies and procedures useful for your agency.

   

• Previous: Parliamentary Secretary Foreword
• Next: 1. Background

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