News

Needs of community at centre of new vision

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 07:32:00

People who are blind or have low vision will help to design the social and recreational activities offered at Vision Australia Mildura.

The organisation will run a series of workshops over the coming year to find out what types of programs the community would like to see delivered.
Regional business manager Megan McDonald said the initiative would ensure Vision Australia continued to meet the needs of its clients.
“Activity groups offer a supportive environment for people dealing with vision loss to share experiences, make new friends and learn new skills,” she said.
“Through the co-design workshops, clients will have more say in what these vital services look like.
“If a client has a particular skill set, they might also like to assist in the delivery of the program. Our staff and volunteers can’t be all things to all people, so we should be using skilled people outside of those groups whenever we can.”
Ms McDonald began managing the Mildura service this year when Vision Australia revised its geographical boundaries to align with the health regions. Mildura now comes under the Loddon-Mallee instead of a Melbourne region.
Ms McDonald said she was also introducing a new way of seeking more regular feedback from clients about their experiences.
“The regional client feedback tool has just been piloted in Bendigo and is being rolled out more broadly,” she said.
“When a client achieves one of their goals they will get an SMS, phone call or email asking if they got what they needed from that interaction.
“Then we can immediately adjust the way we’re delivering the service, which means their next interaction will be more positive and beneficial.”