Preparation Activities

Preparing Activities

Set Up Workplan

A workplan will assist you in carrying out your preparation activities. It will also be used as the basis for putting in place a contribution agreement with the funding agency.

A sample workplan is attached as Appendix A.

The following are suggested steps in setting up your workplan.

1. Identify all the major activities that need to get done.
   
2. Prioritize the activities.
   
3. Identify all the tasks that need to get done in order to accomplish the major activities.
   
4. Identify who will carry out the tasks (person responsible).
   
5. Where a cost is involved, identify the amount of resources you will need to carry out the tasks within your overall budget.
   
6. Set reasonable timelines to get the work done. As you develop your workplan and set timelines against each task, you may find that some tasks will only take a short amount of time while others may take several months. Your timelines should therefore be realistic and take into account the difficulty and size of the task and the amount of resources available.

The following are examples of major activities that should be in place prior to full program service delivery. Review the list against what is in place in your community and adjust by adding activities as necessary.

In your workplan, identify the major activities that need to get done, the tasks required to accomplish the activities, who will carry out the work, associated costs (if applicable), and the timelines to get the work done.

Develop and/or Adapt Policies

Policy development is a key governance responsibility. There are two key areas where policies need to be developed: program and personnel. Any new policy development should be consistent with existing policies.

It is not necessary to develop policies from scratch, at least not at the beginning. Gather information from the province/territory, home care agencies in your region, and/or other First Nations/Inuit communities about the policies they use in their Home and Community Care Program. Decide which policies you will need to put in place and use them as is or adapt the policies to meet the specific needs of your community.

An outcome to policy development is the development of the procedures associated with each of the policies. Procedures provide the technical description for how staff are suppose to carry out the policy. Usually procedures are drafted after the policies have been developed.

All policies and procedures should be approved by the management structure before they are put into practice.

Once approved, it is recommended that policies and procedures be organized and kept together in a binder. It is also recommended that in-service orientations be held for staff to inform them about the policies and procedures. The Coordinator for the Program is responsible for ensuring that the program operates in a manner that is consistent with the policies approved by the management structure.

Program Policies

Sample program policies will be available on the MSB and AFN websites in the Spring of 2000.

Program policies provide the framework for everything that the program does and supports the day to day operation of services such as what to do when a client is not home, what to do if there is an unsafe situation, reporting procedures, etc. As such, one of the most important activities that you will carry out is the development and monitoring of program policies. Key policy areas include:

• the administration and financial management of the program;
  
• guidelines for recruiting, training and managing the staff;
  
• guidelines and procedures for delivering the services, for example:
  
  • eligibility criteria
  • policy to guide service priorities and limits
  • service contracts to outside agencies (links to additional services)
  • provision of service to family members
  • role of family members or the informal care giver
  • clients rights
  • charting and record keeping
  • incident reporting
  • presence of client when service is given
  • entering client's home when there is no response
  • client's house keys to staff
  • death in the home
  • appeal processes
  • reporting of abuse
  • storm plans and inclement weather policies
  • universal precautions
  • employee health (including required immunizations)
  • employee safety
  • sexual harassement
  • sharps disposal (needles, etc.)
  • needle puncture injuries
  • transportation of clients
  • client confidentiality
  • storage of client records
  • access and security of files
  • definition of heavy cleaning
  • provision of personal care by home health aides