Adapted services just a click away
Despite all the effort and change management involved, the Centre d’intégration à la vie active (CIVA), an agency that works for the inclusion of people in a situation of disability, took on a major digital transformation.
Their project consisted of three initiatives:
- An internal and administrative management database.
- A chatbot that gives members information about sports that are adapted to their functional limitations.
- A platform for lending adapted outdoor equipment.
“We really had two goals,” explained Marine Gailhard, CIVA‘s Executive Director. “The first was to simplify and streamline our administrative management to be more efficient and the second was to optimize our members’ experience. This was key for us. We want our members to have the best possible experience and the best possible service.”
To minimize challenges, CIVA organized computer courses to teach its members to navigate the platforms on their own.
The digital transition has gone over very well with the agency’s members. Although not everyone is comfortable with technology, people were eager to learn to use a computer and make online reservations. To minimize challenges, CIVA organized computer courses to teach its members to navigate the platforms on their own. They can also apply the skills they learn to their everyday lives.
Successful change management
Slowly but surely, the team has adapted to these new processes and is constantly learning. Everyone gets training on new features and receives support at key times, such as the registration period.
Over the past year, 900 people have interacted with the “find your sport” chatbot geared to younger people, who are less likely to make a phone call to get information as they want to find it themselves online right away.
So far, over 1,000 hours of adaptive equipment reservations have been made on this loan platform launched in spring 2022. The innovative platform is becoming a model for other agencies in Quebec with similar goals. One example is the Ville de Rimouski, with which CIVA has shared documentation and photos.
Going digital has allowed CIVA to become more efficient in its interactions with members, families and other stakeholders and better understand how its actions affect people in a situation of disability and impact the community.
The Centre d’intégration à la vie active (CIVA) received the 2023 Solidaires Digital Transition.
This award recognizes a digital transformation project that has engaged the community and helped develop or reinforce a digital culture within an agency or collective initiative and optimize services or activities to better serve users.