Congratulations to the Operations Education Team who won the Plain English Award for the myRyman Life e-learning tool.
A large collaborative team, led by Operations Clinical and Quality Manager Karen Lake, developed a bespoke model of dementia care called myRyman Life, which aims to improve quality of life for residents living with dementia. Team Leader Libby Doran, Instructional Designer Amelia Ong, and eLearning Designer Joey Weaver turned those concepts into a digestible tool.
The comprehensive package of training was developed to support residents and Ryman team members with the aim to partner with people living with dementia and create happiness in the moment through meaningful and intentional interactions. The eLearning module is a user-friendly and highly interactive eLearning tool.
“I am deeply moved by receiving this award which is a credit to all of the people who have given so much of themselves to make a difference, now and going forward, for our people on a journey with dementia,” says Karen.
Libby said that winning the award was a testament to the effort, love and collaboration they poured into the project.
“I will remember this for the rest of my life!” says Libby.
“Big congratulations to everyone who contributed to this collaborative project! Particularly, Joey, Amelia, and Karen!”
Libby says that after the myRyman Life tool was launched, incidences of distressed behaviour decreased in the special care units.
“We also got a lot of feedback from resident’s families about how much they appreciated being given this content in such an easy to understand way, and that we made it for them, too.
“They appreciated Ryman recognising the journey they were on. These results and this award inspire us to keep applying a plain English lens to everything we do. Shout out to our teams on the front line doing the mahi and keeping these safe havens.”
The eLearning tool was in development over two years before it was released to staff.
“What started with Karen Lake and I creating a PowerPoint for the board has turned into a best in breed eLearning tool backed up by sector-leading micro-credential and piloting a brand-new care companion role,” says Libby.
“Seeing the project grow and get refined as we brought on new talent is mind-blowing and satisfying. It’s pretty cool!!”
The team developed a matrix style whiteboard to analyse the audience and content so they could see if the project would work for a broad audience.
“That was just the content strategy side. After that came the plain English content writing,” Libby says.
“Amelia Ong is a maestro with complex content and working with SMEs (subject matter experts) to write content that sings. This was no mean feat as we built the plane while we were flying it.”
The eLearning tool was developed concurrently as the research into the model of care occurred.
From there, they focussed on designing learning activities, and finally the complexities of developing those activities.
“Joey Weaver is an absolute expert at his craft, the best of the best. This involved some JavaScript, animation and formulas – you can see why we nabbed him from the states!”
To date more than 9,000 Rymanians and people in the community have completed the eLearning module which includes next of kin of our residents.
“It’s a real kick to be able to give our staff learning and development tools that contribute to their giving the very best of care,” Libby says.
“Every single person involved in this project has that sparkle inside. We are all, at an individual level, committed to addressing stigma, protecting the rights, being inclusive and ultimately increasing quality of life for everyone with links to Dementia.
“I love representing Ryman in this area as we strive to deliver the absolute gold standard in dementia care.”
