Australian Hand Therapist Association

 

 

The Australian Hand Therapist Association (AHTA) is a not-for-profit member-based National Peak Body for hand therapy in Australia. The AHTA was founded in 1982 with two goals in mind. First, to garner wider recognition of hand therapy as an area of advanced practice. Second, to advance hand therapy knowledge and practice in Australia.

The AHTA provides training and accreditation for occupational therapists and physiotherapists wishing to specialise in hand therapy and improve the outcomes of their patients. 

The Story of how Member Jungle and The Australian Hand Therapist Association came to be working together is a long and slightly complicated one. In fact, the AHTA was our first Membership System customer long before the name Member Jungle was a twinkle in our eye. 

So to learn about the AHTA’s experience with Member Jungle over the years, I chatted with Sarah Dixon, AHTA’s Operations and Membership Manager. 

 

The History Of The AHTA And Member Jungle

The AHTA first became a customer of our primary company Telligence in 2009. When they joined, they asked us if we could make them a membership management module for their website. We said yes, and that was what got the ball rolling towards the birth of Member Jungle. 

The AHTA stayed with Member Jungle for 11 years before moving to a system that could meet the complex requirements of its new credentialing program.  During this time, Member Jungle continued to evolve and improve, and a few years later, the AHTA decided to come back to Member Jungle which they felt confident could provide them with a great system that was affordable and had comprehensive customer support.

 

What Changed After The Australian Hand Therapist Association Joined Member Jungle? 

First, they found that the new Member Jungle management system was easy to use, user-friendly and full of valuable features. 

“It was such a massive evolution, just the difference of what the capabilities were and what it could do now compared to when we left. We are not tech people by trade in any way, shape or form. However, I do find the website is incredibly user-friendly for administrators and our members.” Sarah explained. 

Sarah explained that the system has been easy to use and has really streamlined the day-to-day running of the association. “The clear interface and infrastructure are so time-saving, it’s fast, it’s secure. We feel very confident with the security.” 

As the AHTA has a heavy focus on training and education for their members, they run a lot of paid events and courses. In fact, they are one of the biggest users of our event module. Even with their high number of professional events, they have found the events module to be incredibly easy to use and helpful. The events module has saved them so much time and effort they have actually been able to expand their educational courses more than ever before.  

“The events module has helped us grow and expand the suite of education that we offer our members. We have grown to offer over 55 different workshops, courses and events through the events module,” Sarah said. 

Sarah said that she and the rest of the admin team have found the integrated Member Jungle app to be incredibly useful. It has helped them better engage their members and promote their upcoming events and courses. She also said that their members love the app. Being able to check their member details, renew their membership and receive notifications has been a big hit with AHTA’s members.  

Sarah said of the app, “Having the member app is a vital and invaluable tool. It’s a way of quickly communicating with our members.  We can send out a reminder for an upcoming event, and it prompts members to register through their phones quickly and easily.”

Sarah also raved about the data reporting widgets and how much time they have saved her, “From the administration side of it, the new widgets and dashboards and the instant business snapshots of numbers and stats have been very valuable and welcome tools. I don’t have to go in and do massive searches to find out how many members I have in a level. I can look at trends of when people are more engaged or who’s registering for courses and what demographics they’re coming from. I can just find all that information at my fingertips.”