Opening the door to better holistic care for a community in need
BY ANTHONY CASTLE
Doorways provides emergency relief and holistic case management for those who seek assistance from The Salvation Army.
In 2022, a national model was introduced to enhance the provision of services and support nationwide. As part of the evaluation of the national model’s implementation, a research team visited 22 Salvo sites across Australia and connected with 70 individuals to gain insights from those who have experienced these services firsthand.
“We actually engaged with hundreds of stakeholders over the course of the site visits,” says Belinda Hendrickson, Research Analyst with the Salvos.
“We spoke with Doorways workers, corps officers, volunteers and community members. To mitigate the risk of selection bias in the lived experience consultations and to improve the reliability of the findings, we looked at the compliments and complaints data in Solvsafety, as well as the data collected from the Emergency Relief Outcomes Measurement survey.”
Belinda has led the evaluation since November 2023. During the site visits, the research team heard from a diverse group of community members, which included 28 people with disabilities, nine refugees, asylum seekers or migrants, 18 First Nations people, and three people who identified as LGBTQIA+.
The key observations have been that it takes strength to ask for help, people value opportunities to learn new skills, and connecting with others is important.
“Where there is effective collaboration between Doorways and corps, we can see phenomenal holistic support provided,” Belinda says.
“Community members shared how participating in social activities, specific programs, or onsite case management positively influenced or impacted their lives. It was evident that these benefits are the result of effective collaboration between Doorways and corps.
“We saw improvements in community members’ life circumstances and in their overall wellbeing. People told us they felt more confident about managing challenges in the future. They also told us that having opportunities to connect with others reduced their sense of loneliness.”
Many participants shared that the simple act of seeking food or financial support can be daunting, with feelings of shame and fear of judgment. Many expressed a desire to get involved in programs and activities that teach life skills and promote independence.
The process also highlighted that connecting with others enhances a sense of belonging and wellbeing, while also offering opportunities to share information about additional resources.
“Moving forward, the Doorways evaluation will evolve, with a focus on monitoring, evaluation and learning, so that we can continue to deliver support in the most effective way possible.”
“This part of the evaluation is concluding, but the process of assessing feedback and incorporating it into continuous improvement to enhance service delivery continues.” says Belinda.
“One thing we’ve learnt through the lived experience consultations is that some people feel shame when asking for assistance. There can be internalised stigma around it. We saw this across all states and genders. That really gave me insight into how much courage it takes to seek help. This is an opportunity for us here. We can share this information with workers and corps, using it as a tool to consider how we can keep this understanding at the forefront of our messaging and how we serve people each day.
“Moving forward, the Doorways evaluation will evolve, with a focus on monitoring, evaluation and learning, so that we can continue to deliver support in the most effective way possible.”
