Do you believe burnout is treated as a serious issue and discussed enough amongst your profession and the wider disability sector? What supports are in place to assist those experiencing burnout and what more could be done to provide support to support coordinators?
KR – I believe it is a very serious issue that is not handled at all well.
More staff, less stress.
Effective communication with the NDIS – one point of contact who knows what they are doing, and things can be done in a timely fashion.
RA – During my years of working for other organisations as a support coordinator (or even a service coordinator and rosterer), burnout was not discussed, and was not something that anyone had mentioned to me before I started in this industry. There were no supports in place, and I found that I did not feel supported by my managers/company owners at the time.
This largely drove my decision to branch out on my own, as I was doing lots of unpaid overtime (trying to keep up) and was on a lower pay rate than others who I was teaching how to do the job (as I was a Senior Support Coordinator at the time).
Since I have started running my own business, I am very aware of what my body is feeling and what my participants expect from me. I have clear communication about any time that I am not available and put boundaries in place to ensure that I am able to switch off and enjoy some down time (even if it is just a lunch break).
ZD – No, I do not believe burnout is discussed enough in this profession or the wider disability sector.
There is always the option of taking leave if a disability sector worker is experiencing burnout to be able to recover. I think the only way to provide support to support coordinators experiencing burnout, besides taking a holiday, is for the organisations to hire more support coordinators, even part-time, to take some load off.
KW – As a provider, we have our own systems in place to ensure we navigate this and minimise the risk of any burnout of our support coordinators. We focus on mental health and self-care frequently.
SM – I don’t think that burnout is treated seriously enough in the sector.
All frontline managers should have training in how to pick up on the start of burnout with their team, so it is identified and dealt with before the employee gets to complete burnout.
Having an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) service can be helpful, but it isn’t always. I have found the best strategy is making sure that I build rapport with the people that I employ, so I can look for the early signs of burnout and do something about it.
Burnout costs the sector so much money, so being proactive instead of reactive is the best strategy. I think making sure each employee has the correct time off, is not doing massive amounts of overtime, and is aware of their limits is a good place to start in the way of prevention. Making sure that employees have a self-care strategy that they actively use also can help.
VS – I do believe it is treated as a serious issue. We have access to counselling services to prevent burnout and work through other issues that are of concern.
We have rostered days off that we can set for our best interests to take the necessary time for a real break.
SH – This is certainly treated seriously with Lifestyle Mentor Services. We have internal supports – at the very first sign of potential burnout, intervention is actioned. This ensures that our support coordinators never feel burnout.
AT – I feel more could be done. There is much support for participants and carers, but not so much for service providers aside from the EAP services that are offered, if they’re offered.
There are only a very small handful of service providers that are highly supportive of not only participants they work with, but their staff as well through supervision, ongoing training and support. Many providers in the industry and all industries can learn from them.
EH – Unfortunately, burnout of all workers in the caring sector – be that disability, aged care, medical, child care or school, is not taken seriously enough. Many push through and deliver substandard care while looking after themselves, or they leave the sector they have passion for. At this stage, until we are all seen as an integral part of our society and valued as such, the supports that are truly needed in the sectors will not be put in place.
Until it becomes the norm for sectors and the community to value care workers, we need to look after ourselves. Things like knowing how many hours you can work (while protecting your mental health), varying what you do (this could be having a mix of work from home and in office, or even a mix of roles), and a good self-care routine is important.
Having good supports within the workplace, with good management supervision, ongoing personal development and ongoing external mentoring and clinical supervision – in both 1:1 and peer group settings – will help all workers.
(DB) – I think a lot of burnout stems from vicarious trauma. There is strong evidence that vicarious trauma does not come from working with people who are living with difficult situations, rather it comes from witnessing the harm that systems and services can sometimes do to people who may be vulnerable and in difficult circumstances.
The NDIS is a system that can be both incredibly rewarding and incredible challenging to work within, and can at times cause participants a lot of distress. This distress, and the inability to feel like you have any control over it as a support coordinator, is what I believe is the biggest factor in burnout.
This is a difficult one to overcome as the NDIS is a big beast. I think keeping up to date with the latest NDIS information helps, as does drawing on the expertise and support of your colleagues. It is nearly impossible to be an expert across all areas, so sharing knowledge within your team and nominating ‘subject matter experts’ can be a great way to help support coordinators have access to the information they need to navigate the system and feel supported.
Also, having strong team connections and enabling a culture that encourages people to reach out for help when they need it and meeting those calls for help with understanding and compassion is really important.
