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remote supervision

How to use this Resource: 

This resource provides a range of strategies for supervising and supporting staff working remotely from their supervisors or colleagues. Remote may be interpreted as rural and remote where staff are long distances from supervisors or colleagues or it may be interpreted as remote due to different work locations. A supervisor, for example, may work in a metropolitan head office, whilst the supervisee may work on the road providing services in homes or workplaces in the same metropolitan area. The strategies in this resource may be useful to clinical supervisors, but also to Allied Health Professionals (AHP) working with and providing support to Allied Health Assistants (AHA) in separate locations.

Strategies for supervising and supporting staff working remotely

Speech Pathologist/ Occupational Therapist/ Physiotherapist and Therapy Assistants

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  • Supervision of Allied Health Assistants (Allied Health Assistants) and Allied Health Professionals can be direct, indirect or remote
  • Consider peer supervision such as access to colleague of same discipline outside of organisation as part of the supervision plan.
  • Consider group supervision which may be telephone, videoconference or online.
  • Establish Co-ops: Sole-traders and small providers can work together for purpose of clinical support.
  • External Allied Health Professionals not employed by organisation provide supervision in your organisation.
  • Consider multiple organisations sharing cost.

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  • Ensure process in place to regularly check/update required equipment.

  • Consider funding remote Allied Health Professionals devices.

  • In the case of rural or sole/isolated clinicians, one-to-one supervision may be done by telephone, videoconference, holoporting or online.

  • Tele-health, tele-supervision and tele-conferencing can be utilized to link Allied Health Professionals to off-site supervisors.
  • HETI: The Superguide (also copied into Appendix 2) 
  • SARRAH Telehealth (also copied into Appendix 1) 
  • Presentation: Telehealth Enhancing Remote Physiotherapy
  • Silverchain Holoporting: In real time a doctor located off-site appears as a hologram to a nurse and patient wearing HoloLens headset at the patient’s home. Consider application opportunities for this technology in staff supervision and collaboration (eg. Remote supervisor attending a therapy session as a hologram as Allied Health Professionals works with an individual with a disability). Watch Holoporting Doctors to patient homes with HoloLens video here

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  • Consider simulation-based learning.

  • Consider observation or collaboration through holoporting.
  • Simulation-Based Learning Special Interest Group: Simulation Australasia
  • For students but can be considered for staff training: Going Rural Health
  • Resources and information on clinical simulation: ClinSlim WA
  • Silverchain Holoporting: In real time a doctor located off-site appears as a hologram to a nurse and patient wearing HoloLens headset at the patient’s home. Consider application opportunities for this technology in staff supervision and collaboration (eg. Remote supervisor attending a therapy session as a hologram as Allied Health Professionals works with an individual with a disability). Watch Holoporting Doctors to patient homes with Hololens video here


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  • Clear roles and responsibilities in relation to working with people with disabilities (providing services)
  • Utilise delegation framework tool to ensure tasks and supervision match expertise of Allied Health Assistants.
  • Difference between Supervision, Line management and mentoring.
  • Clear Supervision responsibilities. (eg. Allied Health Professionals working with Allied Health Assistants may not also be AHAs supervisor)
  • Supervisory Agreement
  • Supervision and delegation framework for AHAs and the support workforce in disability. Developed by Victorian Government following their development of Victorian Assistant Workforce Model (VAWM) which is health specific. Very detailed framework and tools for working with AHAs. Includes a Supervision and Delegation tASK app.
  • Appendix includes: considerations for delegation, handover template, Pre-training preparation for APHs, a guide for accepting tasks for AHAs and support workers, and participant information.

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  • Documents/template: Supervision agreements, logs, checklists, evaluation of supervision
  • Consider documents and processes that can be HR’s responsibility or responsibility of learning and development officer, staff mentor or another role.

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  • Occupational Therapy specific resources
  • Physiotherapy specific resources
  • Speech Pathology specific resources
  • OTA members in WA can join Special Interest Groups for:
    - NDIS
  • Australian Physiotherapy Association members can join the:
    - National Disability Physiotherapy Group
  • AGOSCI – Australian Group on Severe Communication Impairment. Open to people with disabilities, family members, carers, therapists, teachers: AGOSCI: www.agosci.org.au
  • SPA members can join closed member communities for:
  • Disability
  • Mental Health 
  • Early Careers
  • Private Practice
  • Rural and Remote
  • WA Bramch 
  • SPA members can join Special interest groups for: 
    • Speech Pathologists and Adult Disability
    •  Speech Pathologists in Vision Impairment Network

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  • WHO ICF
  • NDIS
  • ID health and education
  • Disability and Mental Health
  • Metro South Mental Health
  • Speech Pathology Australia members on Restrictive Practices
  • Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC)
  • Dementia Information
  • Children with Disability
  • General information and E-Learning
  • Planning and goal setting

Download Resource:

Accessible WORD

View Appendix 1-12:

Download Here

The list of strategies is not intended to be prescriptive nor exhaustive. It is assumed the reader is a lifelong learner who will seek out further information to interpret and apply the strategies that are appropriate for them and discover other strategies not contained in this resource. 

Contact information

Developed by Jane Cousins, Project Lead NDS and Katie van der Watt, Project Officer NDS. For more information, contact: submit enquiry/feedback