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Case Study: CatholicCare Social Services


Not-for-profit charity CatholicCare Social Services Hunter-Manning transitioned its online forms from an offshore provider to a secure, Australian-based solution that complied with Australia’s privacy laws.

  • The Social Services Behaviour Support team needed a data storage solution that kept all data onshore here in Australia and not on overseas-based servers
  • They also needed a method of reducing all the paperwork and creating a more efficient way to manage information and data
  • Snapforms’ ease-of-use and superior functionality are helping to onboard more and more users across the organisation

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As a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)-approved provider, CatholicCare’s Behaviour Support team in the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese is well-versed in data collection and management.

And given so much of the data they collect relates to the people they support, they understand as well as anyone the importance of protecting their clients’ privacy and personal information.

So when Clinical Specialist Stephen Groombridge was tasked with developing a behavioural support service platform within the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle for CatholicCare Social Services Hunter-Manning, he breathed a sigh of relief that he had already built a portal using online form provider Logiforms to collect data required by various NDIS processes.

But there was a problem.

We had to find a solution where the data was kept onshore.

“We had built this portal system previously with Logiforms,” explains Stephen.

“The NSW government almost bought it from us as it was really functional but sadly, the hiccup for them was that the data storage was offshore in Canada.”

“So then it was logical – within the NDIS context and also in a CatholicCare context – that we started to look at options where data was not kept offshore.”

“We had to find a solution where the data was kept onshore.”

The importance of professional standards and onshore data

Like many professionals in the human services sector, Stephen must view his role from both a legislative and ethical perspective.

That’s why I gravitated towards Snapforms.

“As with many of the professional associations, whether it’s the APS – the Australian Psychological Society – or another association, we’re all bound by certain ethics and benchmarks around privacy and confidentiality, data management, data storage and security.”

Snapforms offers a secure, reliable Australian-based solution, storing all data on locally-based servers, adhering to the Australian Privacy Principles and privacy legislation.

“That’s why I gravitated towards Snapforms,” says Stephen.

What was the business challenge?

As a psychologist providing Behaviour Support services to people with disabilities and working collaboratively with their families and support teams within the NDIS framework, Stephen found himself getting bogged down in all the paperwork and inefficiencies of outdated technology.

It was about creating a more efficient way to manage information and data.

“For me, it was about creating a more efficient way to manage information and data,” explains Stephen.

“I want to create solutions for practitioners to make things more efficient for them.”

“To try to automate – or make a process around behavioural assessment – to make the creation of other bits and pieces a lot more efficient for practitioners, so ultimately they could spend more time doing their real jobs, as opposed to getting hammered with paperwork and twentieth-century technology that seems to be somewhat time-consuming.”

How was the solution implemented?

One challenge for most practitioners is staying up-to-date with Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

“It’s always a struggle for practitioners to do it – to collect the data and record what they’re doing, so I’ve created an online form section for them to use just purely for CPD.”

“They all say it’s so much better than doing the paper chase – or pulling up Microsoft Word and trying to create a template – Snapforms has version control, it’s simple to use, it’s quite intuitive how people can launch a form and fill it in and then they’re done.”

I love the functionality.

Stephen is also using Snapforms conditional logic functionality as part of his work as an external supervisor of other psychologists.

“It’ll say on the form, for example, you’re doing an assessment of someone and they’ve got a mental health condition – such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder – and if they tick that box it’ll bring up a couple of links that will bring up a short explainer video for that personality disorder.”

“So rather than them having to go off and search – because people can’t know everything, particularly provisional psychologists – I’ve chosen the websites they’ll look at so they get the appropriate level of insights into that particular condition.”

“Or a consent form, for example, say if someone is referring themselves, we need to know if they consent.”

“So with conditional logic, they’ll get a set of boxes for the information we need.”

“But if they’re referring on behalf of someone else, then it’s a whole different situation with consent, so they get separate conditional logic options – like Yes, No or I’m referring, etc. – for the information that’s required by a GP or whoever.”

This has application across a range of different programs at CatholicCare.

Once he’s set up the forms needed for CatholicCare’s Behaviour Support team, Stephen says he expects a roll-out of the Snapforms platform across the wider CatholicCare organisation.

“This has application across a range of different programs at CatholicCare, and even across the sector,” he says.

“Across a whole bunch of different human service areas.”

“It’s just about being able to evidence the functionality and the efficiencies it’s creating.”

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