Technical know-how is no longer enough when rolling out new digital systems.

Aged care providers are increasingly choosing implementation experts with experience as frontline workers to drive their projects.

Rohan Davey worked in the aged care sector for more than 10 years, including as an Enrolled Nurse and personal care worker in a memory support wing in a residential aged care facility in Victoria.

Now he provides services to providers implementing new solutions as an organisational change manager at business and technology consultancy Rohling.

"I sometimes think that even though I work in this role now, my makeup is that first career, as a nurse. So, when you go in and talk to the end users, then you are still in that mindset, and you understand everything they're going through," Rohan said.

"That's the lens that you look through first before you look through the lens of the technical consultant."

Sharing the same background improves communication between aged care staff and tech implementers. It also enables a collaborative codesign process.

"I'm able to act as that connecting piece in the puzzle that helps to translate the languages back and forth," Rohan said.

For Jayson De Oliveira, a project manager with Rohling, it could be the difference between a successful project versus an unpopular or failed one.

Jayson worked in the disabilities services sector for more than a decade, including as a disability support worker on the night shift, then as a site manager, before leading NDIS compliant digital transformations.

To him, technology projects can benefit from insider experience of organisations that contend with staffing shortages, 24/7 shifts, compliance demands, and the complex needs of vulnerable people.

"When I'm in the requirements and design thinking stages, I'm putting on the hats of where I used to work. And I think that gives me the ability to know the questions they might be asking. Then be able to probe that with them. I'm not a vendor,” Jayson said.

“I'm not trying to sell you a product. I'm trying to get you to a decision or get you to a solution. And I think that having that knowledge helps me have conversations with them easier."

Frontline experience can provide important insights into the pressures on aged care staff, according to Rohan.

"A technical consultant who is unable to have empathy for a frontline worker is a massive roadblock in any type of project. You get them offside, and a multi-million-dollar project has just had a line put straight through it because those people are the ones who ultimately, behind closed doors, are going to say this project's poison, and that's toxic," Rohan said.

"When you have nurses or people who come from the industry in the implementation team, they're able to answer questions that haven't even been asked. And then that instils a sense of confidence."

"Unless you can actually see how a solution's going to transform a provider's operations, if it will, then it can be a complete waste of time. But technical people, in a lot of cases, have no idea," Rohan said.

"Even if they've been working with aged care providers, they still don't understand it, because they're just not wired the same. They don't understand how all of those solutions actually play out and how a five-minute delay or a refresh button could completely unpick the whole enterprise."

Working with the Auckland District Health Board to help implement a scheduling and timekeeping solution for the largest hospital in New Zealand, Rohan saw how critical the issue can be.

Jayson said his time in disabilities services has provided additional skills that can prove invaluable to a high stress tech project.

"I got to learn a lot about people and how to work with them and understand different ways of communicating, as you would in that space, by dealing with lots of families and people with complex needs," Jayson said.

"You deal with people who are quite challenging, and they have their own genuine needs and concerns, and they display behaviours of concern, and you understand that. And then certain behaviours are displayed in this job and you're like, no, I can deal. I've dealt with worse. I'm very comfortable in tense moments at work. You're essentially sometimes a mental healthcare worker in this role. So, I think that my previous life helps me. I don't feel uncomfortable in those situations."

Instead, he can focus – unflappably – on providing advice and project management.

"The sector is still changing, and a lot of organisations are folding or merging. So, there's still a bit of angst around how much investment they want to place into technology in that space," Jayson said.

"What we're learning is that there's a lot of technologies out there, but providers are not really sure what the right solution is. That's the space we're in at the moment: to help an organisation make the best decisions about the products that are available and what enhancements could really work."

For Rohan, his understanding of the sector also motivates him to improve systems.

"I've got family in aged care at the moment, and you see how hard pressed all of the staff are in running these facilities now," Rohan said.

"It's even worse, I feel, from when I was working in there. At the moment it's like the sector's gasping for air."

To find out more or speak to Rohling about your organisation's specific needs, go to rohling.com.au.