Dementia Auckland first started using Noted as their client management system in 2018. Working with a new online system has allowed them to increase the efficiency of their note taking and client management activity.
Clinical Lead, Rhonda Preston-Jones explained: “Noted was like a breath of fresh air because our previous system was so antiquated, so old and so unintuitive.”
With highly customisable note taking forms, Dementia Auckland were able to easily request for Noted to make refinements to their data collection processes. These refinements, made in 2020, involved removing unneeded form content and adding more relevant data entry fields to record a higher quality of data. This has empowered Dementia Auckland to provide better care and support services, while easily reporting back to their funders and sharing meaningful data with researchers. Reporting on client data insights is crucial to help improve knowledge and awareness of people with Dementia and their carers in New Zealand.
About Dementia Auckland
The Dementia Auckland team supports those living with dementia in the greater Auckland area, along with their carers and families. They provide a wide range of support that includes; home visits, support groups, education, and socialisation groups. The 18 strong direct service team is made up of Key Workers and Socialisation Team Workers averaging approximately 5,000 client contact sessions a month.
The organisation’s mission statement is:
The significance of a dementia diagnosis reaches beyond the individual affected. Families, networks and communities have a role to play in ensuring that we provide a safe and supportive society.
Dementia is now the third largest cause of death in New Zealand. With 50 million people affected globally, there are nearly 10 million new cases reported every year – one every three seconds. It has never been more important for us to understand, and tackle, the largest health and social challenge of our time.
Recording quality client data
With a recent change in the organisation's strategic direction, a clear vision was set for Dementia Auckland to focus on what measurable impact they can achieve with the resources available to them.
“As a resource constrained not for profit we are unable to meet the increasing demand for our services by simply hiring more people. We have had to scale by creating efficiencies, doing more with the same resources – that’s where Noted comes in.”
Martin Bremner CEO
Early in 2020, Dementia Auckland contracted the services of Consultant, Deborah Ross to review and improve the workflow of the workers and redefine the data being collected. This work involved in depth consultation with the key workers who are responsible for data collection. “We quickly realised that in Noted, the data is only as good as what you put in.” Deborah Ross - Consultant
Unpicking the workflow of these teams highlighted where efficiencies and improved data consistency could be implemented in their note taking forms. These refinements allow Dementia Auckland workers to feel confident they are collecting the right client data that will inform their organisation’s impact reporting.
It is crucial for any organisation to be able to report on their progress towards meeting contractual requirements, along with efforts made in meeting the organisation's purpose and strategic direction.
Organisations should ask questions like:
- Is our entire team working towards the same goal?
- Are they using the same systems and methods for recording client data?
- Are these methods reflective of the work being delivered?
Recording client data consistently is especially crucial in the health and social care sector where measured outcomes are an important indicator on the wellbeing of our communities. Recording quality data will also allow an organisation to make informed decisions about where future funding and resources should be assigned.
Enhancing worker experience
Forms are reflective of the work
With the newly developed workflow and structure, the onboarding and content specialist team at Noted delivered a refreshed set of note taking, tracking and referral forms. The forms reflect the workers’ assessments, diagnoses and activities, allowing them to capture client data consistently in one unified system.
“A lot of the stuff we were doing wasn’t recorded, we now have a way of saying we are involved with people before they get a diagnosis and we are involved with people after they go into care. So changing the way we were recording and reporting in Noted has made everything that people are doing visible.” Nicola Brenton - Key Worker.
Increasing data functionality
Previous systems used by Dementia Auckland were based solely on the entry of client data and not on the usability and functionality of that data. With Noted, they can now use their data to conduct analysis that informs and improves their client encounters and daily decision making.
“The notes system is intelligent, I can easily identify where my clients are based geographically, so if I am going to a location to visit one client I can go into Noted and see if there are other clients in the same area who might be interested in a group activity.”
Nicola Brenton Key Worker
Enhancing group sessions
As part of Dementia Auckland’s support services they provide community based socialisation sessions for people with Dementia to stay engaged in purposeful and cognitive stimulation in group activities. “The best thing about Noted is the ability to open a Group session and tick who attended the session, it is a really quick thing for me to do.” Rhonda Preseton-Jones. Noted’s Groups feature allows workers to easily and quickly record client and group data gathered through their work without interfering with their engagement with the client.
Saving time
Noted’s dynamic forms are a significant time saving tool for Dementia Auckland. Workers can view all information about a specific client, along with their previous records, all in one dashboard. This means less clicking and navigating through different parts of the client management system. “With 3 - 4 hours a day typing notes all those little time savers make a huge difference.” Nicola Brenton - Key Worker.
Reporting on client data
With a clear workflow and data collection strategy configured into their Noted system, Dementia Auckland now has the ability to consistently record meaningful data. This allows them to report back to important stakeholders and contract funders.
Organisation reporting
Dementia Auckland can now query their data and generate reports on their client base as a whole. “For example when asked, how many people under the age of 65 do you have on your books? we can easily run a report to extract this information seamlessly.” the ability to do this in Noted, in the words of Rhonda, “looked like magic.”
Noted’s powerful data extraction tools allow Dementia Auckland to have complete control in generating knowledge and enhancing the visibility of their organisation’s impact.
Funder and research reporting
Dementia Auckland are also able to provide insights back to key stakeholders and funders. For example, with the implementation of Data Warehousing in the near future they will be able to report on such things as - “Our non attendance rate for support classes in your DHB is running at 60%.” They will also be able to inform their ongoing research with Auckland University and other institutions who want to collaborate and share quality data about dementia and the effectiveness of how it is being treated.
Future Plans
Reflecting on 2020
“How much and how far we have come in the last 5 months, what we have achieved together, collaboratively, it is incredibly remarkable.”
Rhonda Preston-Jones Clinical Lead
Data Warehousing
Understanding the importance of data and the invaluable insights it can provide, Dementia Auckland have decided to implement Data Warehousing in 2021. This tool will allow them to visually display and investigate their data dynamically, providing more insight into their impact.
Whānau Record
Implementation of the new Whānau feature in Noted is also on their roadmap for 2021, as much of their work revolves around looking at not only those with dementia but their carers - often family / whānau members. The use of this feature will enhance the work they are doing by viewing the entire support system of an individual with dementia all within the one data system.
Our team at Noted are very pleased to provide this solution for Dementia Auckland, allowing them to enhance and measure their effort towards achieving their mission - providing a safe and supportive society for families, networks and communities to tackle dementia awareness, diagnosis and care.
If you would like to learn more about the wonderful work Dementia Auckland do, or to make a donation you can view their website here - https://dementiaauckland.org.nz/
