BUSHkids Annual Report 21 | 22

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teleBUSHkids Technology is ingrained in our day-to-day lives and digital health continues making further advances in adapting and improving the way that we access the health and wellbeing services and supports we need. Telepractice is a broad term encompassing many modes of telephone and online support and has been a part of BUSHkids’ service model since 2016. Telepractice at BUSHkids was born out of a research partnership with The University of Queensland’s Centre for Research Excellence in Telehealth, where BUSHkids hosted a PhD candidate who developed unique protocols and delivery guidelines specific to the organisation and the children, families, and communities we work with.

teleBUSHkids Centre In 2022, many years’ work culminated in the develop ment of our teleBUSHkids Centre – a repurposed build ing in our Toowong precinct transformed into a bespoke, modern facility for BUSHkids telepractice and fitted-out with the latest amenities and technology – and the result of many strong partnerships across the years. The Centre builds upon our telepractice research project with The University of Queensland’s Centre for Research Excellence in Telehealth. We are also grateful to the Queensland Government for partnering with BUSHkids to accelerate the building of the teleBUSHkids Centre through the Community Infrastructure Investment Partnership (CIIP) program. This Centre will ensure BUSHkids can complement our on the ground services with telepractice to support more children and families across Queensland The initial idea for this Centre was cemented in 2018 and architectural plans developed through 2019 with necessary approvals forthcoming thereafter. Construction began in August 2021 kicking off with the ‘lift-and-shift’ of the existing house, which needed to be raised to allow room for a new ground floor, and to be moved to a slightly different location on the block – quite a spectacle to watch! The ground floor hosts a communal meeting area and foyer, boardroom, meeting rooms and accommodation, with the top floor (the original house) developed into office space and individual “telePods”. Next came laying the slab and all the framing works, followed by erecting walls and cladding to close up the shell of the building. It was at this point you could see the Centre starting to take shape. Though not without its own challenges, this stage of construction was also heavily impacted by the significant rain and flooding experienced across the region earlier this year A few weeks behind schedule the internal works commenced. This included all the flooring and tiling, plumbing and electrical work, painting, as well as pouring the concrete for the accessibility ramp and driveway. It didn’t feel like a construction site at this stage, the end was in sight! Building work finished in August 2022, and fit-out began. The empty Centre started to fill with furnishings and technology, and landscaping also commenced. By the end of September everything was finished, in place and ready to go for staff to move into their new office and begin service delivery from the finished teleBUSHkids Centre. Increased, purpose-built space is available to host more staff and ultimately support more children and families using telepractice – effectively doubling our existing capabilities! – and BUSHkids looks forward to further expanding our innovative teleBUSHkids teams. BUSHkids acknowledges the significant contribution from the Queensland Government, through the Community Infrastructure Investment Partnership program, which funded much of the costs of the Centre’s construction, and to Aurizon for its contribution towards the costs of new equipment in the telePods.

If this is hard to imagine there is a video on our website showing how this looks from both ends of the Zoom call!

From an initial handful of staff and clients as early telepractice adopters, this medium for working with families was found to have many benefits, suiting many families’ individual circumstances – and the onset of the pan demic was the catalyst for organisation-wide adoption of this approach. Two years on, all staff are trained in teleprac tice on induction, and the skill and creativity of our workforce in delivering fun and engaging telepractice sessions continues to exceed expectations. A number of BUSHkids staff are using felt green (or blue) screens and Velcro pockets to project images on their screens and play boardgame-like games with children during sessions.

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