Help me, Handle you

As a case manager, working alongside, overseeing, supervising and supporting clients’ support teams is part of our daily role. In amongst the vast amount of training that support workers undertake, Moving and Handling is key.

Moving and Handling is the “transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or bodily force” Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992

So, we know this is an important and necessary element, we know that employees working with clients require the training to provide them with the skills to safely moving and handle, but how do we access this training? What constitutes as a sound training package, how do we ensure that the person is receiving the most appropriate client specific training possible?

Varying factors can influence access to training such as lack of resources, location, time and cost, so, as case managers with a clinical background in Occupational Therapy, the obvious resolution seemed to be staring us in the face….and so, after updating our skills and knowledge and undertaking appropriate training, we now offer moving and handling training packages to our clients.

This enables us to provide client specific Moving and Handling, with the ongoing opportunity to provide advice and guidance on an ongoing basis within our role. When speaking with clients, family members and support workers, there seem to be consistent feedback with regards to current training and refreshers being too generic and not client specific. As case managers we have knowledge of our clients, their abilities and limitations, the role of the support workers, the role of the family and all of this enables us to tailor the training package to meet the needs of everyone involved on a personal level at a competitive cost.

Within our role, the regular contact we have with the client, family, support team and therapists, where relevant, we can provide and oversee training to ensure the quality of care and safe practice remains of paramount importance whilst ensuring the content is personal to each client as possible.