The Ides of December
As everyone winds down for the year and gets prepared for the holidays – be it Christmas, Solstice or Chanukah (which, interestingly enough, begins on 24 December this year)….time for a quick update from the team at AVCA.
The long awaited announcement from the Ministry of Health did not happen. Then again, I am fairly certain none of us outside the halls of power (and quite a few within) were not expecting the PM to resign and a new PM and deputy to be appointed right before the last meeting of the calendar year either. So, as far as that is concerned, it looks like a holding pattern for any announcement from the MoH and whomever winds up being the minister and associate minister of health. That being said, much progress was made this past year and the community does have the support of many in government and healthcare.
All this means for AVCA is we keep on doing what we do best: educate, inform and advocate.
The trustees had their last general meeting of the year last weekend and much was discussed and decided about programs and plans for the upcoming year.
The AVCA VIF program is going along like gangbusters and and we will begin the process of expanding our outreach and education programs across the country into rural areas now that we have a successful pilot program in Wairarapa to use as our template for VIF. The program is still rocking along at a 95% success rate and at least 150 people have come through the doors of the Masterton Mentors since April. We could not have done it without the people who have gotten the word out about us locally to their GPs, nurses and social workers.
AVCA approved/AVCA certified is in the second stages of development so that consumers can be guaranteed that the vendors that have our stamp of approval are top of the line. We hope to roll that out in the New Year once everyone is back to the grind and we can plan accordingly. The vendors we work with now and who meet the criteria will be grandfathered into the program and the new vendors that come down the line will experience the full process of vetting. As it’s a voluntary program, we are hoping that by working with the vendors, they will feel part of the process and it will give everyone a good idea of what we may need to work within if and when any regulation does come into play from the government.
An expansion of the community education and outreach program is in the works to provide information and guidance to health care workers via an online portal as well as onsite seminars “at the coalface”, all of which we hope to offer for only koha/donation if we can get external funding to cover the costs of the program to bring it outside the main centres and into the bush where folks tend not to have reliable access to the wider world.
I am very proud of the team and all the work they have accomplished and I have no doubt that going forward we will continue to build upon the foundation we have set. Happy Holidays, everyone have a fabulous break, enjoy your family, the food, the sun (or the snow if you are in the Northern hemisphere) and we will “catch you on the flip side.”
