Support coordination – the delicate art of balance – Q6

Panel members

• Elizabeth Hickey (EH) – Support Coordinator, AFA Support Coordination
• Sera CrichtonAita (SC) – Support Coordinator, Australian Regional & Remote Community Services
• Kate Read (KR) – Founder/CEO, Inspires & Co
• Zena Dyson (ZD) – Specialist Support Coordinator/Team Leader, Esteem Care Services
• Danni Bament (DB) – Managing Director, Aspire Recovery Connection

The extended wait times facing NDIS participants seeking appointments with allied health professionals are widely reported. This is particularly prevalent in regional, rural and remote communities, but is also impacting participants in metropolitan areas. How do you source, secure and retain high quality allied health providers for your clients and what tips do you have for other support coordinators looking to do the same?

EH – The wait times are not just for regional, rural, and remote communities. You can live in a capital city and also experience some amazing waits for services. I think as an industry the allied health professional training has not kept up with the growing need.

One of the biggest things I have learnt over the years is to develop a range of relationships – you need to find providers that align with your participants, who are able to retain staff and are able to be flexible to meet the huge range of needs of participants.

Communication, networking and continuing to foster a great relationship with providers is the only way to ensure you can source and retain great support. Support coordinators should have people they can turn to regularly, but also continue to learn about and engage new providers as you never know who and what services you don’t know about.

SC – Build a great relationship with the local providers before you seek assistance from outside. You have to remember that when you refer interstate you need to think of the cost for the plan. Always ask for capacity and don’t be disheartened when they turn you down.

KR – Relationship buil ding and networking. Know who the good providers are and keep a database.

ZD – I source allied health professionals usually from the internet or personal recommendations, make contact by phone, then build good rapport and lasting relationships with good quality allied health professionals in our area.

I keep in contact with these professionals regularly and continuously refer our participants to them. Therefore, they prioritise our participants, and I can usually get an appointment for our participants within two weeks with any of my connected allied health professionals.

DB – It can be particularly challenging helping people to source allied health services, with long waiting lists. Therapy assistants can be a good option for some people as they are less expensive and can often be easier to get into. They are trained in a particular area of allied health but work under the supervision and guidance of an allied health professional.

For people who are wanting to access a psychologist under the NDIS, alternatives which may equally meet a person’s needs include counselling and psychotherapy. These may also be more cost effective options and can often have lesser waiting times.

The NDIS is not available for mental health treatment as such, it is to help a person build on their strengths and overcome barriers that may be getting in the way of reaching their goals. A counsellor under the NDIS can be a good fit for a person to explore where they want to make progress and work through ways of achieving this.

Aspire Recovery Connection offers one on one counselling, which can be provided in our office or via outreach to a person’s home. We also provide group therapy, which can be a great way to connect with others and develop new insights and skills.

Click here for question 7.