Professional Development: Aged Care Learning and Development Plan

This report presents a comprehensive Learning and Development Plan tailored for the aged care profession. The plan begins with a self-introduction and then delves into the megatrends and challenges faced by the industry, including competition, government policy changes, and the increasing demand from baby boomers. The report then addresses ethical and professional values, outlining the importance of integrity, responsibility, and respect for clients. A competency assessment is included, identifying key skills for aged care workers. The plan also sets out the author's career goals, aiming to improve the quality of life for elderly individuals. The report covers topics such as providing emotional and physical support, engaging clients in activities, and assisting with daily tasks. The plan also includes a discussion of the PDCA cycle for continuous improvement in healthcare services.

Running head: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Self-introduction..............................................................................................................................2
Megatrends and challenges..............................................................................................................3
Ethics and professional values.........................................................................................................7
Competency assessment..................................................................................................................8
Professional development summary..............................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
A learning and development plan is one that is used in organizations to align the training
program with the objectives of the organization. It helps in ensuring that all the training activities
have been carried out properly. The process of learning and development begins with
identification of the training needs and goals and then seeing if the organization has sufficient
resources for this purpose and to finally implement the plan (Parry et al. 2019). The main aim of
the paper is to develop an effective learning and development plan for the chosen industries. The
profession chosen for the purpose of this study is aged care.
Self-introduction
I am a post graduate student and I have done the same in health care service with
specialization in aged care management. The course enabled me to become a part of different
NGO’s and non-governmental organizations in order to provide help and support to the aged
people of Australia. The course offered me the opportunity to take part various health programs
and community development programs and therefore it all helped me in gaining practical skills.
Under the course I also understood about the various contemporary issues in the field of health
sciences.
I have been associated with COTA Australia and gained experience of 5 years. The
company is engaged in developing policy, representation and advocacy for all the old people in
Australia. With the help of these people further representation of the company in different
territories and state and therefore reaching about 500,000 older Australians. The governance
structure of the company comprises of two main structures with eight different territories and
state COTA’s. There is the council of national policy and the Australian board of COTA. The

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Australian board comprises of representatives from all the member organizations. There are
independent directors residing the board and also independent chairpersons. The council for
national policy is presided by one member elected for the national policy council as
representatives.
Megatrends and challenges
The megatrends in the field of the aged care industry includes- competition in the
industry, size of investment in the industry, challenges being faced by aged care industry,
Improvements in the aged care industry and various others. Some of the major challenges in the
field of aged care industry are changes in the policies of government- such that the government
of commonwealth took the decision that made the regulatory rules and auditing stringent. Again
different types of home packages were introduced by the government which has made the work
of the service providers cumbersome. There have currently been changes in the baby boomer
demands- According to a recent research conducted in Australia by 2050 there will be more than
1.8 million people of 85years of age in Australia. Baby boomers have undergone a change in the
recent era. These people believe in creating a separate market for different services and are often
finicky. These people have started making use of technologies for improving the quality of
services and this is creating too much pressure for the service providers and requiring them to
improve their services at a lower cost.
One of the major challenges faced by the aged care industry is that of lack of skilled
staff- this field is based on services completely, it has been seen that the number of older people
in Australia is continuously increasing however there has also been an increase in the number of
the trained and skilled staff leaving the industry. Some of the major reasons for such increasing
rate- over loading of work, lack of proper career growth opportunities and others. Competition in

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the field of the aged care is continuously increasing and especially among investors and
financiers who wish to provide help and support to the aged people. According to a survey
conducted in field of financial institutions, aged and health sector, the aged care sector was found
to be having the highest prospect of lending For the purpose of this study, about 400 bankers
were surveyed from across the country and the results showed that aged care sector had the best
lending prospects. Ageing population in Australia shows lower tax payers in the country and
therefore the government fund for the traditional models is continuously decreasing and this
necessitates the innovation of some new models which are aimed at meeting the demand and at
the same time properly financing. Some of the major investors are the banks because Australia is
moving into a service driven society and organizations that understand the same are prospering.
In this respect it is important to have proper knowledge about the competitors. Different
competitors are providing the customers the opportunity to avail various packages for home care.
Telehealth technology is being used for the purpose of improving the delivery and support. Some
of the major improvements that are taking place in the aged care industry are that of
commencement of various standards of quality of aged care. This commission is established in
order to monitor the quality of t5he services being provided to the aged people and the services
done in this respect. Government is taking various other steps also such as preparation of
commission rules and acts. Commission also looks after the continuous improvement of the plan
of the provider. According to the commission, there needs to be proper PCI in a written form and
that should monitor, improve and access the improvement of the lives quality. Continuous
improvement is actually an effort to continually improve the health care services provided to the
aged people. Under this the needs are considered, it is a part of the overall system of quality and

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it is a result focused activity. The continuous improvement is also checked and carried out
properly through PDCA cycle.
Figure 1: PDCA cycle
Source: (Ursu, Greenberg and McKee 2019)
Goals
The work that I am required to carry out as an aged care worker is to provide emotional
support and physical care for them who need assistance for all their tasks. These services can be
provided in homes, hospitals, clinics, residential care and others and it depends upon the level of
care required. The main focus will be to improve quality of life by meeting with their specific
needs. It can include- washing, taking medications, eating and others and I will help and assist

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the elderly people with the same. I will try to engage them in different activities such as
community activities in order to slow their ageing process and this would help in improving their
psychological health. I will try to help them with different problems that include mental health
disorders or physical health disorders. As an aged care worker I am expected to assist client in
their daily household and personal activities, providing companionship to them, I can prepare
food for them, do their laundry, clean their places, and others. I may be required to help the
clients with their transportation activities and help them in reaching the clinic or other places of
consultation. My employer may require me to create a safe healthy environment for the aged
people by reducing their exposure to hazardous substances. I can help them with their mobility
by using different equipment’s that can help them in moving such as hoists and others. I can help
them in liaising with their families, or even other professional of health sector. Goals of the
employers or the clients refers to all those goals that they expect to achieve after the completion
of the treatment in their expect to achieve as end results. These goals need to specified,
measurable, achievable, and realistic and time bound. The smart goals of the client is that-
Specific- The goals of the client is to achieve a better quality of life and slow the ageing process
Measurable- It will be measured depending upon the number of times they take part in any
activities
Achievable- this parameter measures how far the goals are achievable
Realistic- this parameter measures if the goals of the clients can be achieved in reality or not
Time bound- It measures if the goals have been achieved within a specified period of time say
within 6 months.

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My career goals is to become a volunteer for taking care of aged people in an NGO or in
any organizational and to improve their quality of life by engaging the older people in more
engaging activities and this will also help to slow the ageing process.
Ethics and professional values
Professional values and set of ethics that are to be considered in my profession and the
way it will help me in future consist of the following code of ethics and professional standards.
The code of ethics comprises of proper education for aged care management, accountability and
responsibility to clients, responsibility and accountability to public, procedures for solving the
ethical dilemmas, assistance in case of any complaints. These codes of conduct will be followed
by me because through proper education regarding aged care management I will be in a better
position to understand the business roles and professional roles. Through having proper
responsibility and accountability to clients with an approach that is multi-cultured I can ensure
that all the clients are treated equally. Through accountability to public trust of people can be
created. It also includes the ethical responsibilities towards the public. The ethical code of
conduct can actually help me solving various ethical dilemmas. I can assist in reviewing various
complaints of the clients and solving the same. The ethical principle that needs to be followed by
me or that has to be followed in this field of aged care is that of integrity, responsibility and
loyalty, avoiding any form of harm to the clients and promoting the benefits. Respecting the
dignity and the rights of the clients. Being a professional for management of the aged people I
need to be honest, diligent, and accountable in my work towards the clients. I need to dependable
and trustworthy such that I can improve both my business relation and relationship with the
clients with whom I am dealing. Being a worker for managing ageing care, I need to look after
my client’s welfare, interest and others and try to maximize the benefits to them and reduce any

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harm. Being a volunteer of the ageing care I need to treat all my clients with respect so that they
feel free to discuss their goals with me because that will help me in understanding my clients in a
better way and plan and act accordingly. I need to ensure that the client’s privacy is always
maintained. The different sets of values and beliefs need to follow in order to carry out my
activities properly. In order to improve my values systems and beliefs I need to continuously
practice self-reflection. Any form of conflicts of interest between the organization and that of the
client’s needs to be solved. Being a worker, I need to maintain proper professional boundaries
with the clients and I have to be aware of the concept of relationship power when the people are
exploited to any risks. Any activities that puts the clients in a disadvantageous position has to be
avoided, I can seek the help of others whenever I need it.
Competency assessment
Competency refers to all those behavior that already exist within an individual or that is
required to be acquired in order to carry out the task appropriately. The competency matrix is
used for the purpose identifying the different types of competencies required by an individual.
Managerial competencies Leadership competencies
Communication skills
The ability to motivate others
Patience
Effective team formation
Conflict management
Decision making
Interpersonal skills
Communication that is cross culture

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The future competency goals refer to all those goals that I wish to acquire in order face
different situations effectively. Some of those goals that I would like to acquire in order to
become more effective in my work are that of emotional intelligence, social intelligence, to
become prudent, influential skills and others.
Figure 2: Stages of competency
Source: (Bird 2019)
This model can be used to identify in which of the competency model we are and 3which
stage we want to be. In the first stage we neither know how to do certain things nor do we know
how to understand the value of acquiring new skills. In the second stage we understand the value
of learning new skills therefore we have the motivation to learn new skills. In the third stage we
know how to do things and in order to demonstrate the knowledge and skills it requires efforts
and concentration (Westbury et al. 2019). The fourth stage is about getting used to the tasks due
to continuously doing the same and learning the skills through continuous practice and the
chances of errors is very less. The fifth stage is about becoming so accustomed to doing the same
tasks and becoming so skillful that finally we can teach others with proper understanding of the
same. In order to remove the gap between the skills desired to be obtained for doing the task and
the actual skills we have to carry out different activities. According to me I am in the stage where

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I know how to do things but I do not have the required skills to do the same and therefore
according to me I am in the stage of conscious incompetence. This is so because I lack the social
skills and others that are required to create such an environment in which there will be free
communication between the clients and me as a worker of a NGO. Many clients still do not feel
free to share all necessary information and therefore I feel we are stage two where we understand
what has to be done but we need the required skills necessary for this purpose.
Professional development summary
Strength
Communication skills
Conflict management
Decision making
Interpersonal skills
Courage
Weakness
Lack of patience
Lack of motivation sometimes
Opportunity
Social skills
Emotional Intelligence
Prudence
Threats
Lack of patience can lead to poor relationship
with the client
If motivation is not there, there will not be any
drive to do tasks irrespective of having
necessary skills
According to the analysis carried out in Stage 5, I lack all the skills required to create an
environment in which the clients will feel free to share their specific needs. Some of these skills

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are social skills which includes the ability to participate with others in order to carry out work
properly. Emotional intelligence is the ability to take efficient decision by having proper control
of emotions. Prudence is the ability to be open to new information and not having a blocked
mind. I can acquire the social skills by interacting with more people so that I can understand
them, to enter into better conversation with them and others (Karantzas, Romano and Lee 2019).
I can improve my skills of emotional intelligence by trying to understand others emotions, taking
charge of my own emotions and outbursts and similar other ways and I can acquire prudence
skills by being more open minded towards others opinion and considering the same while taking
decisions.
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that a learning and development plan can
be used to ensure that the training activities have been carried out properly. This paper discusses
about the learning and development plan through self-reflection. The profession chosen for the
purpose of the study is aged care. The paper discusses about the different mega trends affects the
profession chosen for this study and various others.