
| 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.
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