Module

Module 7

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7.0 Aims

7.1 Role of case manager

7.2a Tri-level approach
7.2b Case manager's checklist

7.3a Case history
7.3b Sources of information

7.4a Goal setting
7.4b Individual program plan

7.5 Compensation

7.6 Community services

7.7 Take home
      messages

7.8 Resources

7.9 Take the      Test

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7.6 Community services / issues in accessing different services

This section includes:

  • a list of services in the services network
  • a list of issues to consider in contacting services

Services

Service networks can include the following types of services. The specific examples listed are services available in New South Wales. Similar services are available in other states.

State peak brain injury consumer or advocacy organisations
Brain Injury Association of NSW
Carers Association of NSW.

Rehabilitation services
Department of Health in each state; NSW BIRP;
local/private hospital rehabilitation departments; private therapists.

Vocational rehabilitation
Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service (CRS);
BTP Employment Solutions; Head 2 Work.

Community support/case management
Home Care of NSW; NSW BIRP community case managers; private case management services; Community options programs.

Avocational, day activity, community access, clubhouse programs
Headway – Adult Development Program; Liverpool Brain Injury Respite Program; North West Disability Services Inc (NWDS); Attendant Care Agencies (for individual paid worker support).

Respite programs
Hunter Brain Injury Respite Options; Gemhill Cottage (NWDS).

Support groups, Self-help groups
BIA of NSW support groups.

Counselling services
Lifeline; private therapists; NSW BIRP therapists; Drug and Alcohol Counselling Services.

Accommodation services
Aged care facilities (nursing homes); Wareemba Community Living Inc.

Other services (eg. crisis, legal, financial etc)
NSW Office of the Public Guardian; NSW Office of the Protective Commissioner; Centrelink; Commonwealth carer respite centres.

Issues in accessing services

Be honest!

Be accurate in providing information about the client’s needs and disabilities, particularly with difficult behaviours

Case-by-case basis – don’t overload

Many agencies find providing service to a person with a TBI resource-intensive and stressful. Refer to agencies on a case-by-case basis. Some agencies can deal with one or two people with a TBI but not more. If an agency is overloaded, it may end up rejecting all people with TBI.

Education – key workers or inservice for agency

Ensure that key staff , or all staff if appropriate, receive adequate education and training to provide services. This may be general education about brain injury, or specific training on the management of a particular client.

Provide staffing

Some agencies will accept referrals if they come with their own staffing. This can often be arranged through employment of carers if a person is compensible, or through the use of respite workers or volunteers if there is no compensation.

Recruitment of specific staff

Sometimes the recruitment of specific staff can help. For example a home support service providing showering to a sexually disinhibited male found that the employment of a male personal carer for the task was a simpler strategy than training a female carer in behaviour management.

Agency support

Be pro-active in providing agency support. For example, demonstrate behavioural guidelines, encourage people to contact you if problems arise, or better still, take the initiative in contacting the agency to check on how things are going. Sometimes people make contact only when there has been a crisis – too late to solve problems that have arisen.

Provide respite

Not only families require respite. Agencies and staff need respite from clients as well. Providing agencies with breaks is another pro-active way of maximising the chance of a client being able to continue accessing a service over the longer term.