Do you believe support coordinators are particularly susceptible to burnout? What are the biggest factors contributing to it, and what part has the COVD-19 pandemic played in burnout?
KR – Absolutely – one of my staff recently quit because of burnout. She over-serviced clients and gave everything to them. Her life was work and she didn’t have anything else. She would answer calls on her days off/holidays.
RA – Yes, I feel that as a support coordinator you become everyone’s first ‘point of call’ for any ‘emergency’ or issue. I remind my participants that need gentle reminders, that I am NOT an emergency service, and that I cannot fix every concern unfortunately.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 has seen an increase in my participants’ avoidance of presenting to hospital or even to the GP for medical/health conditions, and I have become even more so the person they call when experiencing a medical or mental health concern.
Given my duty of care, I am then drawn into something that could have been handled purely by the medical staff/emergency services – but I also need to follow up on things that are not really in my job role.
Since COVID-19, I have seen increased anxiety in relation to social participation, community engagement and anything involving ‘leaving the house’ for a lot of my participants. This has left them incredibly isolated and lonely, and that then impacts on my call log/missed calls and messages, as they are looking for someone to chat to.
I have also seen an increase in the number of times I am hearing from some participants, and the number of times they will call in a day if they have not been able to reach me.
ZD – I believe it depends on what type of person the support coordinator is, as to whether they are susceptible to burnout or not.
What I have heard from our participants is that many of their support coordinators give them one phone call a year, that’s it! Therefore, I believe it would be very unlikely for that type of support coordinator to experience burnout at all.
On the other hand, a person devoted to their role of support coordination will be organising many things for many participants and be run off their feet every day trying to ensure the participant has everything they need that is in their plan, plus writing reports to the NDIA at eight weeks, mid-plan, and before a plan review for every participant on their books. Depending on their caseload, this type of support coordinator would definitely be susceptible to burnout.
KW – Yes, I believe they are. However, I feel it comes from the organisation’s expectations and high KPI’s. Support coordinators have extremely high expectations placed on them.
SM – I think that anyone who works in the disability, youth and aged care sectors is at high risk of burnout.
COVID has played an active role in this – where any role that could be done from home was done at home. This had a massive impact on the hours that I worked. Instead of working say 8am to 5pm, I was working from when I got up until when I went to bed. I got a lot achieved, however at least once per week I would end up passing out at 7.30pm.
VS – I believe any person-facing role in community services can become super stressful to the point it causes burnout.
The restrictions that COVID created did play a huge part in how we could perform our role effectively. I was lucky to be in a supportive work environment that updated staff on restrictions and expectations and allowed the freedom to be able to work from home during the lockdowns.
SH – Absolutely, we are very susceptible to burnout!
In part, it is the lack of appropriate support coordination funding – to balance the needs of the participant with their support coordination funding is a daily battle, and this is something that needs immediate review. If someone has support coordination funding, it already signifies that they have complex needs, and 12-24hrs of support coordination is just not sufficient.
COVID-19 created a huge increase in work, mostly because allied health professionals were not available on an urgent basis – they lost staff. Constantly chasing service providers for intervention was work intensive, due to not having access to allied health professionals, and many participants were extremely concerned about their ongoing care.
Let’s not forget also that, due to government mandates, we were unable to see people face-to-face – and for many, this was detrimental to their care.
AT – Absolutely. I find some of the biggest factors are time, role responsibilities and the complexities of working with participants. However, if managed well, burnout can be minimised.
EH – Support coordinators are absolutely burning out – in high number. This is because the role we play on a day-to-day basis is assisting people to manage their struggles and crises. The role is specifically there to fix problems and help people overcome the impact of their disability. So much of the support coordination role is focused on issues and crises, and it is not unusual to find out about successes clients have only when you sit down for a regular review.
Doing what we do is intensely rewarding. When success happens, and we get to be part of that, it makes all the other days worth all the pain.
Many days I am working with people who are in crisis, at the end of their tether and in overwhelm or burnout themselves. I comfort, cry and witness people at their worst, hoping that they are able to experience the best life gives, and typically get to hear many days, weeks or months later the success that does occur.
During COVID-19 – and even normally – the support coordination role is focused on when people need help. This is why we do what we do and there isn’t an easy way to sugar coat it. COVID-19 has made it even harder. So many of my interactions with clients are typically face-to-face – at times, I have been the only person to provide comfort to a client and the distance that COVID-19 has required to keep everyone safe has only made that part of the role harder.
St H – Support coordinators who are employed under KPI standards and who don’t have control over their hours of work or caseloads are particularly susceptible to burnout. This is due to the sheer fact that anything to do with the NDIS and disabilities usually takes a lot longer than expected to complete and ends up being way more complicated than anticipated – causing delays and constant follow ups, while new problems are constantly presenting themselves.
As far as COVID-19 adding to the risk of burnout, let’s just say everything went from being slow to almost a complete stand still in most areas of the NDIS and disabilities, with huge staff shortages. No explanation needed.
(DB) – Yes, I think there are a few factors that contribute to this. The role can be incredibly demanding, juggling multiple people’s NDIS coordination needs. COVID was particularly difficult due to the isolation. Being face-to-face and connecting with people in a meaningful way is protective against burnout. When this wasn’t available, it was very difficult for everyone.
