In September this year, Motivation Australia (MA) traveled to Fiji to work with the Frank Hilton Organisation (FHO) Physiotherapy Department to develop and trial a Safe Transfers Training package.
The MA team worked with the FHO Physiotherapy team to refine the content of the training before presenting the package together to teachers, parents and carers from Hilton Special School and Early Intervention Centre.
The training package is focused on children who use supportive seating and mobility devices and who may need assistance to transfer. It is intended to:
- Give an overview of why transfers are important for children;
- Provide an introduction to different types of transfers including what transfer would be most appropriate for the child;
- Provide guidance on how to keep everyone stay safe during a transfer technique;
- Provide the opportunity to practice transfers in a safe environment and apply the principles of transfers and safe lifting to case studies.
MA is now working on finalising the training package, integrating the feedback from the FHO Physiotherapy team and those who participating in the training. Once final, the package will be available for the FHO Physiotherapy team to then use to train and provide skills to teachers, parents and carers from other special and inclusive schools in Fiji.
The development of this training package is made possible with the support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). MA acknowledges and thanks FHO and their physiotherapy department for their support and contribution to the training package.