How to find a disability support worker for optimal care

SPONSORED — If you are an individual with a disability, living life alone can get you stressed. Your condition, ordinarily, makes you dependent. As such, you will need support in daily life and activities, whether you are carrying out hobbies or conventional tasks.

Though your loved ones can rise to the occasion, at times, the support can be inadequate and inconsistent. For instance, filling your gaps expands their duties and may hinder their goals and work schedules. If you are older, it can be more complicated for family members to provide assistance at every turn and point.

Disability support workers are the go-to options for enhanced support. As an individual with a disability, you require all-around and optimum care to achieve your goals and extended support in your constant drive towards independence.

While you may be enrolled in a government-funded support program or self-managing your care, it does not limit your range of care and search for a near-perfect support worker. It is only right that you get one that will adequately attend to your needs and make you feel satisfied with the services offered.

Below, we have outlined what to look for in disability support workers and simple steps to enrol the right one for your care processes.

Who are disability support workers?

Disability support workers are individuals who provide support services. They are skilled professionals whose job revolves around care and assistance for people with one or more disabilities. These workers — employed — help make life more accessible for clients and daily living easier.

While you can engage one in addition to in-home support, they are trained to do tasks independently and can help you, whether there is an extra hand or not. Additionally, they can provide various support services as long as they fit your goal. These include offering individualised care services for young people and adults at facilities or for prolonged hours in the comfort of your home.

Support workers’ services also extend to daily tasks, direct care and mobility needs. You can engage one for your personal care and household arrangements and if you have complex needs, they provide support to reach your potential, with the necessary support for overcoming challenges.

How can I find disability support workers?

Disability support workers offer various care services and you can always find one for your care or loved ones. Here are some ways to find a disability support worker near you.

Recommendations

If you are new to disability support services, recommendations from familiar individuals are one of the easiest ways to start. Your friends, family or an individual with a disability can recommend support workers for you. This could be a previous worker with shared experiences or interactions over time.

You can also engage a local disability organisation for guidance on reliable service providers or recommendations for support workers who can deliver optimum care for your direct needs.

NDIS service page

If you are an NDIS participant, the NDIS service page is one of the places to look for disability support workers. The Myplace portal is a secure webpage for NDIS participants and family to access NDIS information. Also, it is a place to look for registered service providers and available support workers.

The NDIS service page enables you to narrow down your search to relatable individuals. Also, it provides an avenue to access reliable workers who can deliver support services in line with the NDIS code of conduct and to a satisfactory standard for you as a care recipient.

Postcode search

You can enter your suburb or postcode to locate the support workers near your area. Particularly, on a service provider page where you intend to engage workers. The search option enables you to look up workers and can contain additional information you need for your selection.

Finding support workers becomes easier with an online search, which you can perform in the comfort of your home. Various service providers allow you to make this simple search in a few steps.

• Step one
  Open your preferred service provider’s webpage.
• Step two
  Locate the Find a Disability Support worker page with a search box.
• Step three
  Input your postcode in the search box. Some service providers may request that you set up a profile to proceed.
• Step four
  Select and filter out your preferred worker on the list.

Community bulletin boards

Community bulletin boards are one of the places you can find advertisements for service providers. With listings of available workers, you can find a preference. Plus, a worker who is close to your area with easy access to the various services provided. This serves as a manual add-on for your online and digital searches for support workers.

Local area coordinators

Local area coordinators are reliable individuals you can meet with if you are looking to engage a disability support worker. LACs are NDIS-approved and help individuals with disability achieve their goals and plans. They are present in various localities across the country.

You can reach out to the coordinator in your area to facilitate a connection with reliable support workers. They can also help you with information about online services, with guidance on how to navigate the various NDIS processes, if you are new or want to switch workers.

Qualities of a good disability support worker

A good disability support worker must meet the minimum standard for care administration and open to following the conventional code of conduct for administering services to individuals with a disability.

While you may not be able to spot these qualities before employing one, some features to look out for in your prospective support worker include…

Excellent communication skills

An employable disability support worker must possess excellent and effective communication skills, both in written and verbal forms. Disability requires attending to individuals with different conditions. For support recipients who are unable to communicate verbally, communication revolves around the depth of the worker’s skill.

Communication takes the front row when dealing with individuals with disabilities. It involves the ability to communicate clearly and sensitively when speaking and listening with rapt attention to better understand the message passed by clients and the response returned.

With more time for interactions in home care, communication with clients is unavoidable. A support worker with excellent communication skills will find it easy to build rapport with you as the client. 

Empathy

An empathetic individual is one of the top choices when selecting prospective disability support workers. Besides physical support, a support worker you intend to employ must be able to identify and understand the reasons for your need while providing needed emotional support.

Also, your support worker should tend to display empathy in difficult situations, with a commitment to easing the time and financial burden associated with your support process. An empathetic worker goes the extra mile to work with family members to better understand the client’s goals and ways to implement them.

Individuals with disabilities have different levels of mobility aids, symptoms and sensitivity to care. Empathetic support workers put themselves in your shoes to better understand you and offer support tailored to these immediate needs.

Patience

Patience is essential when it comes to working with individuals with disabilities and it is one of the qualities of a good support worker. As a support recipient, challenges can come up, often unexpectedly. These may range from an instant reaction to care to other emerging needs.

Caring for the aged requires various obligations and differences in the ways workers deliver support, compared to young individuals. As such, disability support workers must be patient in their dealings to fully understand and attend to the client’s needs.

With various differences that can arise between clients and workers, being patient helps support recipients achieve their goals. Support workers must also be willing to take the time to provide explanations with calmness, kindness and consistency.

Organisational skills

With various situations and tasks that can arise during support, workers must showcase good organisational skills. That is, the ability to organise and effectively perform expected tasks, without one hindering the other or posing a setback.

A well-organised support worker remains calm under pressure while working. For instance, you may have multiple responsibilities or circumstances that come up at the same time. Your support worker must be able to multitask and attend to various aspects of the support.

Some of these tasks include scheduling appointments, keeping track of progress and addressing needs. With the expertise to sort and organise each, it becomes easier to carry out your various needs.

Commitment to continuous learning

While this feature would be assessed after employment, commitment to continuous learning is one of the key features. To look out for and retain a good disability support worker. This involves the ability of your workers to keep up with new and emerging work standards and updated codes of conduct in the social care sector.

A disability support worker committed to learning new things attains more professionalism and a willingness to adopt new techniques for care. With the passion to make a difference in line with new changes, your well-being will also improve. These extend to anticipating upcoming situations with ready solutions. 

What are the care services offered by disability support workers?

You can enjoy various care services from disability support workers, aside from the basics of personalised care. However, these care services depend on your type of disability and your care plan.

Disability support

Disability support is one of the services you can receive as a support recipient, at home or in a facility. This is the core care offered by disability support workers and it extends to other areas of your needs, depending on your type of disability.

Different disability conditions have unique demands and needs. Support workers provide solutions as an additional resource alongside family support or as a full-time provider. They offer a wide range of disability support services tailored to your requirements.

Emotional support

This involves providing support for individuals with disabilities and emotional needs, particularly individuals who have mental health issues. Disability support workers identify with emotions and needs, along with working out approaches that improve the overall quality of life.

In other situations, a support worker can help clients with social and outdoor interactions for emotional stability. These can range from games to outings that promote positive emotions and support your immediate concerns. Support workers can also provide support for achieving short- and long-term goals that are concerning.

Personal care

This covers the fundamental role of disability support workers. It includes providing individualised care, tailored to your unique needs. As an individual with disability, support workers can help with essential daily tasks, in-house modifications and other forms of care. 

Personal care services include assistance with grooming and meal preparation. Your disability support worker can also help with time-to-time arrangements by ensuring there is a safe environment to carry out your various activities. Thus, protecting you from potential hazards and harm.

Community participation

Community, clubs or a group of peers foster bonds and allow for the sharing of thoughts with fun on the side. This can be with individuals with disabilities or peers with a common goal and aspirations for the short- or long-term.

Support workers can help with participation in various community activities and meeting your obligations within your fold, from attending meetings to discussions and other events.

This form of social support by your disability support worker fosters inclusion in the happenings around your area. It keeps you engaged in lively conversations and reduces instances of isolation. 

Mobility and transport

As an individual with a disability, there are instances where you need to remain mobile. That is, occasions when you have to move around to maintain a healthy state. A support worker helps on these occasions, enabling you to move around from one place to another, whether within your immediate or outdoor environment.

If you need to get food, support workers can help with the transport or movement to shopping locations and assistance with every basic thing that you may need. This support also extends to appointments with doctors and visiting recreational locations that keep you engaged.

Domestic assistance

One of the services you can receive, if you are looking for a support worker, is domestic assistance. Home chores can be hectic and demanding for you to handle by yourself as an individual with disability. Support workers fill the gap with the provision of necessary support, especially when you engage one for home services.

This assistance can range from helping with errands and carrying out conventional daily tasks to maintaining a healthy home environment. These include housekeeping tasks, laundry, and basic ironing — they make overwhelming household tasks easier.

Conclusion

The search and choice of a disability support worker requires careful consideration. These enable you to get the high-level care that fits in your disability plan.

You can speak with individuals experienced in employing the service of support workers for recommendations, especially if you are new to disability support. Alternatively, you can reach out to NDIS-approved service providers for carers with the right qualifications.

Your plan manager, who is versed in client-workers relationships, can also help with selections to help narrow your search to those who are capable of offering the specifics. Having the right disability support worker is a plus for receiving optimum care and fosters your journey to independence.