Support Coordination

Nganana Inc. offers National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funded Support Coordination for eligible participants, and can assist in the process to determine ihe level of Support coordination required.

There are three levels of support coordination, discussed below.

1. Support Connection

Support Connection is about assisting participants to implement their plan by strengthening their ability to connect with all identified supports in their plan, including natural supports in the community. Support Connection will aid participants to understand all components of their plan, and assist in the ongoing management of supports, and answer questions as they arise. Support Connection aims to increase a participant’s capacity to maintain support relationships, resolve service delivery issues, and to participate independently and equitably in the NDIA process.

The intended outcomes of support connection is for each individual to have the confidence and capacity to guide their own plan, and reduce over time the need to have Support Connection as a service, as they build their capacity to manage these functions independently. The capacity building role of Support Connection practitioners includes, but is not limited to:

Facilitating understanding of the plan, and the broader system of available supports (funded and otherwise) and capacity to access them independently.
Enabling each participant to link to available supports, leading to capacity to form and manage these links independently and equitably.
Assisting each participant identify, access, and exercise choice and control about various support options.
Assisting participants through service delivery challenges, and in the process building understanding and capacity to fine tune and develop their plan to suit individual preferences and goals.
Reporting on achieved participant outcomes.

2. Support Coordination – Coordination of Supports

The delivery of Coordination of Supports is a more robust support coordination process reflecting greater levels of complexity within a participant’s assessment of needs, and the identified supports funded to meet those needs.

Coordination of Supports is about strengthening a participant’s ability to design and build their support plan, with an emphasis on linking into the broader systems of services available across a complex service delivery environment. Coordination of Supports is focussed on building capacity for participants to direct their lives own lives, including exercising choice and control where able. The process is a collaborative one, which includes participants and their support networks to work together to understand funding arrangements, expectations, and how service delivery can be arranged to enable participants to guide outcomes toward self-directed ends. Coordination of Supports also includes mentoring, coaching and supporting participants to develop capacity and resilience in their network.

The intended outcomes of providing Coordination of Supports is to build engagement, enhance outcomes, and empower participant’s capacity and ability to design, develop and implement their supports in a sustainable fashion. These functions include, but are not limited to:

Connect: to assist each participant to develop knowledge, experience and ability to connect with the community and the broader system of available supports.
Identify: to assist each participant identify and cultivate needs, wants, preferences and goals/objectives, and then shape and design support solutions to meet these identified outcomes.
Design: to work together with each participant to facilitate understanding of the NDIS, plan funding, and its purpose. The Support Coordinator will be required to build this capacity from the perspective of each participant’s individual confidence, past experience, and cognition.
Implement: to assist each participant to weigh up and consider various support options, and implement plans and activities utilising a supported decision making approach. Where practical a Support Coordinator will create support and action plans to facilitate the implementation of identified participant led options.
Manage: to support collaboratively the resolution of points of crisis, while concurrently building capacity and resilience within each participant’s network.
Review: to assist each participant through service delivery challenges, and in the process build understanding and capacity to fine tune and develop individualised plans to suit self directed preferences and goals.
Report: on achieved participant performance with regard to identified outcomes.

Over time, as a participants capacity is strengthened as demonstrated in reporting processes, Support Coordination may be replaced by Support Connection.

3. Specialist Support Coordination

Specialist Support Coordination is delivered utilising an expert or specialist approach, necessitated by specific high complex needs or high-level risks as identified within a participant’s assessment of needs, and the identified supports and strategies identified as being potentially able to meet those needs.

Specialist Support Coordination in general terms is equivalent to complex case management. Specialist Support Coordination therefore needs to be delivered by an appropriately qualified and experienced practitioner, to address highly complex barriers impacting on the ability to implement their plan. Suitably qualified practitioners can come from the allied health professions (psychology, occupational therapy, registered nurse), and social work.

The role of the Specialist Support Coordinator is typified by the following:

Interventions are time bound.
Is focussed on achieving set goals and objectives as identified within participant support plans. Achieving these goals effectively ends the need for a practitioner to continue this role.
Specialist Support Coordinators function across all levels of service delivery; participants and their families (micro), teams and organisations (mezzo), and with government departments, policy, community and cultural norms (macro).
The Specialist Support Coordinator is the lead agent for change, and needs to be able to take responsibility for negotiating resources, create opportunities, and remove barriers to achieving set goals and objectives as identified within participant support plans.

Specialist Support Coordination should reduce complexity in the participant’s support environment in the context of broader systems of support, whilst also assisting the participant to connect with NDIS supports, negotiate solutions with multiple stakeholders and build capacity and resilience. Specialist Support Coordination may also involve assisting in resolving points of crisis for participants, and ensuring a consistent delivery of service during crisis situations.

The intended outcome of specialist support coordination is that complexities and barriers affecting a participant’s capacity and ability to implement their plan are reduced, and may be replaced by support coordination in subsequent plans. Specialist Support Coordination may also involve development of an intervention plan which will be put in place by disability support workers.