Success Stories: Karma Abilities Respite Enrichment

How Team Teach training has equipped staff with the skills and knowledge needed to build safer environments for all.

About Karma Abilities Respite Enrichment

Karma Abilities Respite Enrichment is a family owned and operated NDIS-registered Disability Service Provider based in SE Queensland, Australia. As well as being a short-term accommodation respite service, they also provide supports for participants with Behaviour Management Plans, and other NDIS supports around community participation, life skills and maintaining employment.

Benefits of choosing Team Teach

Team Teach training provides an intuitive, flexible and affordable way to equip all staff with training around behaviour support. As Tristan says, “The philosophy and training methods employed by Team Teach immediately resonated with me. We needed a cost-effective system we could adapt for our context that was based in real-world experience.”

With its focus on de-escalation skills and relationship-building, Team Teach training reduces the need for physical interventions, and helps staff create safe, calm environments for all. Tristan explains, “The Team Teach approach works hand-in-hand with our Positive Behaviour Support Plans, and has enabled us to dramatically reduce the number of incidents in our setting.”

The challenge

To embed an approach to behaviour support that is flexible and intuitive, and that creates a safer environment for all.

 

Background

Before Team Teach, the systems in place were financially prohibitive for a small organisation, resulting in limited opportunities to train all frontline staff. Previous instructors had limited understanding of the context of the service.

Context

Staff at Karma Abilities Respite Enrichment support individuals who may struggle to regulate their emotions, and may engage in behaviours that could cause harm to themselves or others.

 

Aim

The aim was to find a solution that was effective, but also affordable for a small organisation. It was important that the training could be easily adapted for the setting, and was workable in real-life scenarios.

Reducing the number of incidents and keeping staff and participants safe were also key considerations.

Solution

Team Teach training was used to upskill staff across the organisation, focusing on positive, proactive strategies and awareness of personal space to reduce the need for physical interventions. As Tristan explains, “We wanted an approach we could trust in and that was effective, not one that just ticked a bureaucratic box.”

The structure and content of the training aligned with the organisation’s focus on Positive Behaviour Support Plans, and enabled staff to further develop skills around de-escalation and risk reduction.

The results

Investing in Team Teach training has led to a dramatic reduction in the number of incidents, and the creation of safer environments for all. Staff, participants, and their families report life-changing results.

According to Tristan, the biggest impact of Team Teach training has been the positive feedback from staff and participants’ families, who describe feeling more confident in supporting behaviour. As he explains, “Across the board, people report feeling safer and better equipped to support individuals.”

Using Team Teach methods has resulted in:

• • A dramatic reduction in the number of incidents

• • Reduced risk of injury to staff

• • Participants feeling more confident in staff’s ability to support their needs

Tristan says, “Staff tell me that the knowledge and skills they have acquired have had life-changing results, not just for themselves, but for participants and their families, too.”

Next steps

Karma Abilities Respite Enrichment have found the Team Teach approach to be intuitive, flexible and adaptive, and they’ve seen immediate positive results for their service.

They are continuing to focus on using their training to improve staff safety, reduce the risk of injuries, and provide effective, personalised support for the individuals in their care.