Conferences
"Compassionate health care in the service of Christ"
Conferences
"Compassionate health care in the service of Christ" |
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CATHCA National Conference 2010 CATHCA's 2010 National Conference was held over the weekend of May 14-16th 2010, at the Good Shepheerd Cetnre, Hartbeespoort, with the overall theme of SUSTAINABILITY - Building Your House On A Rock. It was attended by 136 delegates with12 speakers presenting on a range of topics linked to the theme of sustainability. Conference Report
Catholic
Health Care Association CATHCA
National Conference 2010 §
The theme of the conference was
SUSTAINABILITY – building your house upon a rock. CATHCA’s national Conference for 2010 was run at the Good Shepherd
Centre in Hartbeespoort near Pretoria, over the weekend of 14-16th
May. One hundred and thirty-six people attended as delegates, with twelve
speakers presenting on various topics. Conference Programme Friday 14th May
2010
Saturday 15th
May 2010
Sunday 16 May 2010
List of speakers
When CATHCA participants were asked to identify the various elements of
sustainability and what it was, they saw sustainability as keeping your
organization going, surviving, continuing to do what you started. Funding alone
is not sustainability. Being
sustainable requires a holistic approach. In line with the theme of building a sustainable house, we looked at some
good building blocks. NPO Sustainability and Maintaining our Catholic Ethos In the opening plenary session, the speaker, Siziwe Ncwabe, listed the
areas to work on when building an effective organisation. §
Governance
- getting the board right §
Management
practices – leadership, coordinating activities within the organisation §
Human and
financial resources - looking after
people and money §
Delivery of
services – going for quality §
Organizational
assessment – assessing performance and impact of work §
External
relations – working and communicating with other stakeholders The second speaker, Robyn Picas, looked at
what distinguishes our work from that of government clinics and community
workers - our Catholic Ethos, our
core beliefs – seen in the way we provide hope, compassion, love, excluding no
one and reflected in our spirituality, seeing our work as a vocation, our
respect for our clients, and our integrity. This is the rock on which we build
our sustainable organization. We considered an important ‘building
block’ - that of good governance. This is when §
Boards understand
their role and responsibilities §
Boards work
always in the best interests of the organization §
Boards ensure the
organization has a business plan, looks after its staff, is well-resourced and
is managing its finances properly §
Boards make sure
the organization acts in a legal and ethical manner Are You Sustainable? The next building block, once you have a
well-functioning board which is looking after your interests, is to take a good
look at what your strengths and weaknesses are, and what are the opportunities
and challenges out there for your organization, and use this self-knowledge to
develop a practical business plan. In
the two Sustainability interactive workshops, organizations identified common
strengths and weaknesses;
Identifying these aspects not only helps us
understand ourselves better, but we can use them to formulate a business plan
that uses our strengths to develop our opportunities, while recognizing our
weaknesses, and planning to minimise our threats. The Role of the Carer Now we were ready to move on to consider the
role of the carer – an essential part of our sustainable house.
In this session speakers mentioned §
the need for
carers to look at their relationships with themselves, their patients, with
others and with HIV itself §
carers respond to
a call – they must identify with those who suffer, support and encourage
faithfulness in marriage and effective behaviour change. §
The risks that
carers run in their work of becoming burnt-out, stressed, tired, sad and
depressed and a negative self-image §
BUT they bring
hope, they are the ‘salt of the earth’ and their work gives them fulfillment §
They need to look
at each client holistically – empathizing with them on an emotional and
spiritual level as well as a physical one §
Carers need a
support base; their coworkers, their friends, themselves(space to let go). §
It is very
important that carers have debriefing sessions; the question is how to make
these as effective as possible? A physiotherapist provided carers with a
session in which they learnt how to look after their bodies in the physical work
they do, especially their backs. This session could only take ten participants
and was quickly booked out! An organisation’s future looks good if it
is able to retain dedicated and trained staff. Here we learnt that motivating
and caring for staff in small NGOs like ours requires: §
Good leaders –
who know themselves, aren’t afraid to ask for help, stay positive, are
hands-on, have a vision, work alongside their team and emphasise a professional
approach in work §
Staff that feel
rewarded, valued, incentivized §
That staff know
what is expected of them §
A sense of
togetherness, where everyone is responsible for making sure this happens, not
just the manager §
Open discussion
before changes are made §
Staff understand
how ( and why)things are run in the organization/office §
Consider providing a mentor for new staff for the initial
period. The Future for the Community Care Worker
(CCW) What is the future for the carer? Home-based
care projects have sprung up in the non-profit sector in response to need rather
than in a structure manner. In an effort to regulate community care and to
provide better working conditions
for carers both Government and groups of NGOs have suggested different models. The Government model proposes to leave
community care in the hands of the NGOs but lays down strict guidelines on rates
of pay, training and conditions of employment to prevent abuse of the carer –
with no promise of financial support for the organization. On the other hand, as one speaker outlined,
many NGOs would like to see a model that puts the responsibility for community
health and social services firmly in Government’s lap; this model, based on
one in Brazil, sees carers as; §
part of the
formal health system, §
working in teams
in districts that include community health doctors and nurses §
attached to
government facilities or community care centres, §
paid by
government. Some carers would have general skills, in
this model, while others in the team might have more specialized skills, in
mental health, disability, palliative and environmental health, etc. The future role of the home-based care NGO
in this model is uncertain, although it is doubtful if government even if it
accepts this model would be able to fund community care, or manage it in remote
rural areas, without the help of NGOs in the short-term or even long-term. Fundraising What about the vitally important building
block of funding? On this subject speakers identified some important points that
organizations that want to be more sustainable should consider: §
look for small as
well as big contributions §
start in your
local community §
show in your
proposal that you practise good governance §
develop a
personal relationship with your funder §
put together a
comprehensive proposal showing when you will achieve your intended activities §
explain how you
will measure the impact(change) that your work will have on your community §
don’t be afraid
to ask; your work is important Your business plan should be the basis for
your funding request, as it outlines what you want to do, when you will do it
and what resources you have and what ones you will need to do your work. Funders emphasised the importance of having
a well-functioning board with a good relationship between board and staff, where
the board keeps an eye on financial management and management. Profile of The Sustainable Organisation Our sustainable organization now has all
these building blocks in place: §
it has an
effective board to assist it and work for its interests §
it has good
leadership that values and motivates staff §
it has a clear
understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and what opportunities exist for
it §
it has a plan
that answers the questions What, When, Who and How and most importantly it
understands Why §
its Catholic
beliefs are driving its own ethos and guiding the way it works and the services
it offers §
it has worked out
how to measure the effect its work has on its community §
it can use all
these good elements to put together successful funding proposals to get the
resources it needs to continue its work And finally and most importantly, as one of the key speakers said ‘the purpose of a Catholic organization is to bring about the Kingdom of God”. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ The following presentations are available from CATHCA on request: The Future of the Community Care Worker The Role of the Carer - three presentations Caring for and Motivating Staff of Small NGOs - three presentations Fundraising - three presentations NPO Organisational Effectivness and Sustainability Maintaining a Catholic Ethos Good Governance: the role of the board (director@cathca.co.za or 011 880 4022) __________________________________________________________________________________
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