Strategic Plan Update

At the beginning of last year, we let you know about MND Queensland’s 2024-2026 Strategic Plan and made a commitment to keep you informed as we work together to achieve our shared goals. We’re pleased to provide an update on the progress we’ve made so far and to reaffirm our dedication to supporting all Queenslanders impacted by Motor Neurone Disease.

To refresh your memory, or to introduce our strategic direction to those who have since joined our community, you can access our Strategic Plan here: www.mndqld.org.au/page/78/strategic-plan.

It reflects our unwavering focus on expanding care and support, strengthening our community connections, advocating for the needs of people living with MND, supporting research, and ensuring the sustainability of our services.

Achievements in 2024

Over the past year, we have been incredibly busy implementing the strategic priorities we set out, making it impossible to capture every achievement. However, we’re proud to share some of the key milestones that reflect our commitment to supporting Queenslanders impacted by MND:

• Expansion of Advisory Services: We expanded our Advisory service to include a physical presence in Toowoomba, improving access to direct support for individuals and families in the region.

• Regional Road Trips: We commenced regional road trips, connecting face-to-face with individuals and families across Queensland to ensure we’re reaching those in rural and remote areas with essential care and support.

• Workshops and Education: We introduced regular workshops, including sessions for those newly diagnosed with MND and manual handling workshops for carers, providing practical tools for safer and more confident care.

• Peer Support Growth: Peer support groups have expanded across the state, now available in regions including Cairns, Townsville, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Brisbane, both in-person and online.

• Volunteer Engagement: We enhanced our volunteer engagement with a structured volunteer recruitment strategy, a range of new volunteer programs aimed at addressing unmet needs and a dedicated recognition event to thank those giving their time so generously.

• Staff Development and Wellbeing: To support our dedicated team, we introduced a monthly professional development series and implemented a new employee wellbeing strategy to promote resilience and growth among our staff and to improve retention.

• Research Collaboration: We continued to support research by partnering in initiatives such as the MiNDAUS registry and the University of Queensland’s Save Our Speech study, ensuring we contribute to both care improvements and the search for a cure.

Key Priorities for 2025

Looking ahead, we remain focused on several key priorities that will further strengthen our services and advocacy efforts in 2025, including:

Expanding Services:

• Establish a psychology service to support the mental health of those impacted by MND.

• Expand our services to include respiratory physiotherapy.

• Expand our Advisory Service to include a physical presence on the Fraser Coast.

• Launch a dedicated Carer Support Program.

Strengthening Care Quality and Support:

• Implement a Clinical Governance Framework to ensure high-quality care delivery.

• Develop the advisory element of our Advisor/ Support Coordinator role for enhanced client support.

• Improve administrative support across all areas to strengthen service delivery.

• Develop a comprehensive staff onboarding and induction program that ensures that all individuals have the knowledge to provide an MND expert service.

Building Community and Advocacy:

• Increase our presence in regional Queensland with two new Walk to Defeat MND events planned for Cairns and Townsville.

• Strengthen partnerships with third-party fundraising events, particularly in regional areas.

• Establish a Queensland Parliamentary Friends of MND group to advance advocacy efforts.

• Seek to secure State Government funding to ensure sustainability and growth.

• Explore registration as an Aged Care Provider to further expand our service capacity.

Reviewing our Constitution

As part of our ongoing commitment to good governance and ensuring MND Queensland remains a strong and effective organisation, we will be undertaking a review of our constitution in 2025. This process will involve consultation with our members to ensure the revised constitution reflects the needs and priorities of our community. Once the proposed changes have been developed, all members will have the opportunity to vote on adopting the new constitution at a general meeting later in the year. We will provide further details on how you can participate in this important process in the coming months.