NDIS behaviour support: Giving elders positive behaviour support

Support Network notes that people with neurological and intellectual conditions like autism, dementia, and mental health conditions, among others, need BSPs to function at their best.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) exists for these reasons (among others). Within the scheme, those elders with a learning disability or who require occupational therapy get the care they need and deserve.

An elderly NDIS participant with these conditions can struggle without BSPs that take their conditions into consideration. From basic communication issues to behavioural issues, their lives are as tough as it gets, with the added pressure that age places on their minds and bodies.

NDIS behaviour support involves a behaviour assessment that helps create a positive behaviour support plan to give the elder peace. The NDIS behaviour support practitioner will find out how the elder communicates certain emotions, like distress or excitement, and then figure out coping strategies they and the elder can use to manage those emotions.

This positive behaviour support can reduce anxiety and frustration, especially for any elder who has a learning disability or is dealing with a neurological condition, as Support Networks pointed out. This is a foolproof way to prevent meltdowns and give families and carers – especially a behaviour support practitioner – a way to provide quality aged care services.

Interim Behaviour Support Plans: The short‑term solution

Sometimes, you need to get on top of the tantrums before you call in the big guns; the behaviour support practitioner whose job is to assess your elder and figure out a way to deal with their behaviours.

This is where an Interim Behaviour Support Plan comes in.

The name might suggest that you are supposed to come up with it, but the reality is that you still need a professional, like an NDIS behaviour support practitioner, to create it for you. This way, you’re able to use professional methods to the best of your ability to manage the situation before a full assessment can be done and a proper BSP is created to be added to your care plans.

We compared elders to toddlers in the introduction to this blog. The same way you use a physical restraint or an environmental restraint to keep your toddler from hurting themselves is the same way you can keep your elder from hurting themselves.

However, if you use any of these restrictive practices randomly, you could be making matters worse. Professionals know how to apply just the right amount of restrictive practices – especially physical restraint –to ensure the elders still feel safe. This is especially great for an elder with a learning disability, a neurological condition, or any other disability, and this is why your short-term BSP must be professionally drawn.

This interim behaviour support plan will show you how to use restrictive practices like a professional to prevent harm and ensure that the NDIS Commission doesn’t come breathing down your neck.

The more important reason why you need an NDIS behaviour support practitioner to draw up an interim behaviour support plan is that both the long-term and short-term plans must be submitted to the NDIS Commission. This way, the NDIS Commission will be able to vet everything, including your use of restrictive practices like physical restraint or environmental restraint, for compliance with the rules of aged care in Australia.

Restrictive practices: Physical restraint for safety & dignity

You can surmise from the section above that restrictive practices are important elements of a foolproof BSP. Whether the elder is an NDIS participant or not, there are only five approved ways to fit restrictive practices into aged care plans. These are:

• Physical restraint
• Chemical restraint (using medications like sedatives to calm the elder down)
• Mechanical restraint (locking wheelchairs in place, or using equipment that can keep the elder in place)
• Seclusion
• Environmental restraint (locking doors, cupboards, and so on).

Anything outside of these five is considered Elder Abuse, and in Australia, you can get in huge trouble for that.

Also, these methods are not used lightly. The Aged Care Quality Commission has warned that restrictive practices “should only be used as a last resort, in the least restrictive form and for the shortest time possible – to protect and enhance quality of life”.

Leveraging Occupational Therapy for a well-rounded BSP

Occupational Therapy is a solution-focused therapy that helps people handle everyday tasks normally. Elders often experience a decline in psychomotor skills due to ageing, making occupational therapy a crucial component of many care plans.

BSPs utilise these therapies to establish a routine that addresses the concerning behaviours and provides positive behaviour support.

Here‘s how it works:

• Occupational Therapy (OT) can find environmental triggers that cause the elder difficulty in doing everyday tasks, like a learning disability or something else.
• OT then works out a solution to handle this problem.
• BSPs key into those solutions, as most of those triggers tend to also cause behaviours of concern.

In practical terms, if an elder gets startled by noises that cause them to lose their focus or yell, OT might recommend ear muffs. The BSP will lean into this recommendation and probably go further to recommend medical solutions or suggest different care plans.

Conclusion

Behaviour support is a great way to make sure that your care plans are well-rounded. The NDIS is very invested in these, especially if the elder is a participant of the scheme.

They also insist that, for an NDIS participant who needs NDIS behaviour support, the behaviour support practitioner contracted for their care must be one who is registered with them. The applications portal is available to all who need to register.

After this, the BSP, which must be personalised, can be drawn up and submitted to the commission for vetting, after which the necessary support is provided.

Never forget: aged care and home care are all about making sure your loved elder’s life is better.