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Reviewing successful hospital discharge for people with acquired disability and complex support needs
Discharge planning can be a lengthy process when a person has acquired disability and complex support needs. As a result, the experience of transitioning from hospital to home is often stressful.
A scoping review by La Trobe University and the Summer Foundation integrated studies on hospital discharge outcomes for people with acquired disability and complex support needs.
The study suggests that improving care continuity and coordination, initiating support and funding applications early, and involving patients and their networks in the discharge planning process could significantly improve outcomes for young adults with acquired disability and complex support needs.
A few months after the Federal Government announced it is pushing back its formal response to the Disability Royal Commission, it has now confirmed that proposed aged care reforms will also be delayed. People with disability and people in the aged care system are among the most vulnerable in our community. They have waited long enough for a more fair and just society.
The amended eligibility criteria in the new Aged Care Act is a necessary measure to close the door to younger people with disability entering residential aged care. It is disappointing that the legislation will not be implemented by 1 July 2024 as originally planned.
People using the aged care system, including younger people with disability, will continue to experience poor outcomes the longer these reforms are delayed.
On this episode of Reasonable & Necessary, Dr George meets with the NDIS Provider and Worker Registration Taskforce to understand the role of the taskforce and learn if changes to registration requirements will impact on our rights to choice and control in the NDIS. Download transcript
Witnessing how her young patients with acute brain injury were put into aged care, Dr Di Winkler AM used the power of research to fundamentally re-shape how we think about housing for people with a disability.
Establishing the Summer Foundation as a not-for-profit in 2006, Di initially wanted the organisation to provide high-quality information – for people at risk of moving into the aged care system, and for their families, who may not be aware of alternative support options.
“I wanted to help people make informed choices but also to connect people. I was really struck that many families felt like they were the only ones in that situation, that they were facing the choice to move their adult child into aged care.”
Since that time, the organisation has grown to become much more.
In Part 2 of our deep dive into the NDIS Review we explore assessments, navigators and psychosocial supports and talk about what happens next. What happens when you bring together Australia’s leading disability advocates and academics to dive deep into the recommendations by the NDIS Review? To find out check out this episode of Reasonable & Necessary for an in-depth, no holds barred examination of the most controversial NDIS Review recommendations.
What happens when you bring together Australia’s leading disability advocates and academics to dive deep into the recommendations by the NDIS Review? To find out check out this episode of Reasonable & Necessary for an in depth, no holds barred examination of the most controversial NDIS Review recommendations. In this 1st part, the panel examines mandatory provider registration and the recommendation that participants who need 24/7 support should be funded to share with 2 other NDIS participants. What does this all mean for participant choice and control?
On this episode of Reasonable & Necessary, Dr George brings together Australia’s leading disability advocates to unpack the NDIS Review. Dr George, along with El Gibbs, Nick Avery, Jarrod Sandell-Hay and Sam Paior will guide you through all the big changes that are proposed, and what they might mean for you.
On this episode of Reasonable & Necessary, Dr George speaks with disability rights lawyer Natalie Wade, about NDIS appeals, the NDIS Review and her nationally televised speech on the ABC.
Transforming supports at home: Making it work for NDIS participants
The Summer Foundation’s Annual Public Forum was hosted on November 2, 2023, where we enjoyed record-breaking attendance for this years’ event. We hosted closed to 160 people in person at The Arena, NAB Docklands, and nearly 700 people online. It was wonderful to see such an appetite for having these important conversations. Our focus for the 2023 Annual Public Forum was how home and living supports can be transformed so they truly meet the needs of people with disability.
Our panel of experts was made up of sector professionals, people with lived experience and policy makers, and were hosted by Elizabeth Wright, disability affairs reporter at the ABC and Paralympian. Together, they provided a robust and thoughtful conversation around what good supports look like.
Samar Bain brought the voice of lived experience to the discussion with her unique position of NDIS participant and user of home and living supports, and as trainer of support providers. Samar emphasised that appropriate training of support workers was essential to the provision of good support.
Penelope McKay shared the work that the NDIA are doing to improve home and living supports. Kate De Cruz brought valuable insight around the evidence around what good supports look like, and David Clark, CEO at InLife, shared how they are trying to make changes that improve the support provided to participants.
Find out more about our panel below:
Penelope McKay – Deputy CEO, Market Stewardship and Home and Living – NDIA
Penelope McKay is the Deputy CEO at the National Disability Insurance Agency responsible for Home and Living and Market Stewardship. Penelope will join us to discuss the Agency’s perspective on how we can transform supports at home and what the NDIA is doing to improve outcomes for NDIS participants.
With the NDIS seeking to foster innovation in the sector, there’s no better time for the Head of Home and Living to discuss the new home and living policy. The discussion with Penelope will provide insight into the challenges and opportunities the new policy may present.
David Clarke – CEO, InLife Independent Living
David Clark is CEO at InLife, a passionate not-for-profit organisation determined to break down everyday barriers and positively transform the experience of disability support. They recognise the challenges of living with disability support and want to reshape the experience for the better. David will talk about the issues and risks associated with poor quality supports and what, as a provider, can be done to make sure supports meet the needs of participants.
David has spent the last 15 years using business ideas to improve public sector and non-profit organisations.
Samar Bain – NDIS participant and Disability support worker trainer
“It might feel like you haven’t got choice and control but there are avenues you can take if you have the right supports in place.” – Samar Bain
Samar is a disability support worker trainer and shares her lived experience to support people with disability. She lives with cerebral palsy but is able to live independently since moving into her SDA apartment.
Samar’s SDA apartment provides her with the freedom she has long desired, and to live her life on her own terms. Although the NDIS has improved Samar’s life, she believes there are barriers to living with true choice and control.
Dr Kate D’Cruz – Senior Research Fellow, Summer Foundation
Dr Kate D’Cruz is a Senior Research Fellow at the Summer Foundation. She leads research projects that evaluate the experiences and outcomes of young people with disability.
The Summer Foundation’s research into the personal impact of moving into purpose-built specialist disability accommodation (SDA) provides compelling insights into the importance of support for people with disability to live well.
The NDIS has come a long way in the 10 years since its inception, but to transform home and living supports in a way that truly meets the needs of participants, the NDIA needs to embrace flexibility, innovation and person-centred choice and control in every decision that it makes.
This paper summarises findings from relevant research on the topic to help inform the discussion about supports at home in the lead-up to, at, and after that forum.
On this episode of Reasonable and Necessary, Professor Bruce Bonyhady and Lisa Paul give their final interview and reveal major changes that will be recommended in the NDIS Review final report. This is a must see episode for anyone interested in the NDIS.
This episode is part of the Reasonable & Necessary podcast series.
On the latest episode of Reasonable & Necessary, Dr George speaks to Alastair McEwin, former Commissioner, Disability Royal Commission about what the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability will mean for the disability community.
“I have had my head in the report ever since it was released and was more than keen to speak to the man who had spent the past 4.5 years devoted to this important piece of work,” Dr George said.
“We discuss a new disability rights act, changes to the disability discrimination act, segregation in education, the phasing out of group homes and much more.“
This episode is part of the Reasonable & Necessary podcast series.
On this episode of Reasonable & Necessary, Dr George speaks with international expert on self-directed disability supports and citizenship, Dr Simon Duffy and NDIS participant and researcher Dr Mark Brown about their new report “Redesigning the NDIS”. The report highlights the need for a sustainable NDIS, built through co-design with reliable personal budgets and peer support at the centre. It was written to stimulate discussion and debate in the disability community about NDIS 2.0, 3.0 and beyond.
On this episode of Reasonable & Necessary, Dr George speaks with Mitchell Skipsey from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and NDIS participant and activist, Felice Vaiani, about NDIS appeals and what to do when your NDIS plan doesn’t meet your needs. This episode is full of lots of great advice, and important things to consider when appealing NDIS decisions.
You can also check out a new resource series created by the Housing Hub and PIAC teams on Challenging NDIS Decisions. These resources cover a range of interesting topics including how to request a review of an NDIS decision that you don’t agree with, how to apply to the AAT for an external review, how to find out the reasons behind an NDIS decision, how to request access to documents from the NDIS and how to ask for more time to apply to the AAT. You can access the resources here: www.housinghub.org.au/resources/article/challenging-ndis-decisions
Our UpSkill team have created 2 new workshops on the hospital and NDIS interface. These online workshops are partially subsidised and are suitable for people that have basic NDIS and health interface knowledge.
Source: The Australian – Sarah Ison | Photo: Martin Ollman
The NDIS review is being urged by disability providers to reconsider eligibility criteria for the scheme and prioritise early intervention for autistic children to prevent “increased reliance” on the NDIS throughout their lives, as part of more than 700 submissions made to the review of the $40 billion scheme.
On this episode of Reasonable and Necessary, Dr George speaks with Professor Bruce Bonyhady AM and Ms Lisa Paul AO PSM in this exclusive first interview about the NDIS Review and what the NDIS might look like in the future.
Three disability advocacy groups — Synapse, Youngcare and the Summer Foundation — have penned a letter to National Disability Insurance Minister Bill Shorten, Aged Care Minister Anika Wells and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, to address growing concerns of young Australians living with disability being placed into aged care.
On this episode of Reasonable and Necessary, Dr George speaks with Minister Bill Shorten about the 2023 NDIS budget to understand what the budget will mean for people with disabilities and our families. Is there a cap on the NDIS, will our funding packages be cut and will it be harder to get onto the NDIS? You will get the answers to these questions and more.
Just over three years ago, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the federal government would finally solve the issue of young people with disability having to live in nursing homes. The government developed a strategy and committed to getting all young people out of aged care facilities by 2025.
On this episode of Reasonable and Necessary, Dr George speaks with NDIA General Manager Sam Bennett and NDIS guru Sam Paior about how to manage your NDIS funds efficiently, creatively and innovatively so you can get the best outcomes out of your plan. While we focus on self management, you don’t need to self manage to benefit from this episode. It will be relevant to you if you are plan managed and even if you are agency managed and want to have more control over your supports.
On this episode of Reasonable and Necessary, Australia’s leading podcast series on the NDIS, Dr George Taleporos is joined by the new CEO of the National Disability Insurance Agency Rebecca Falkingham about her key priorities, how she plans to rebuild trust and much more.
The Summer Foundation’s Annual Public Forum was held on November 25, 2022. For the first time since 2019, we were pleased to host an audience in person, as well as online. The hybrid event saw almost 600 people join us online and close to 150 in person at The Arena, NAB Docklands.
Watch highlights from the forum:
Our panel of experts, made up of policy makers, sector experts and people with lived experience of disability were hosted by Beverley O’Connor (ABC News 24), and discussed what a reimagined NDIS might look like.
Bram Heinrich-McPartlan and Tobias O’Hehir brought the voice of lived experience to the discussion, with valuable insights into their own experiences navigating the NDIS. Importantly, they both highlighted the life-changing supports that their NDIS funding provided, while also sharing how complex the NDIS is, and how difficult it was to access and understand.
Tobia’s noted that his work as a lawyer helped him to recognise what was needed to put together an application that ensured he would get the funding package he needed, bringing into sharp focus that most do not come to the NDIS with this level of expertise. “Immediately I knew this was an evidence-based process, straight away… I came to it with a law degree and comms degree, and all of my professional experience, and I was able to get the information that I required, I was able to get the evidence that I required.”
John Dardo, Deputy CEO Partners, Providers and Fraud Taskforce Group, represented the NDIA and he was joined by Alecia Rathbone from the Housing Hub and Paul Simmons from Ability SDA, who added to the discussion from the perspective of sector and housing professionals.
It was widely acknowledged throughout the discussion that the NDIS is a young organisation with an enormous task, and while it is not where it needs to be, the organisation is committed to getting better.
John Dardo explained that the NDIA is working on both system improvements and immediate interface improvements to make the NDIS better now, and into the future. “But we also have to look forward and go, what do we need to keep focussing on at every level, to improve and be better next year, and in 5 years, then in 10 years.”
There were some fantastic suggestions for improvement from all our speakers. A key theme that emerged was improvements to workforce. For example, there needs to be more level 3 support coordinator funding, as well as funding for training for support coordinators so they can become the experts that they need to be. The implementation of NDIS in-reach roles within the hospital system was also needed so there are experts within the hospital system that can work with participants and support coordinators to get the best possible outcomes.
Suggestions for change within the NDIA included NDIS policy being separated from implementation, and a positive demand activation scheme, where the NDIA identifies participants who will likely be eligible for SDA. Paul Simmons explains, “the NDIA knows who is likely eligible for SDA, it wouldn’t be perfect, but they would cover it a lot better than the market would”.
The event concluded with a great sense of optimism for the future of the NDIS. For the full discussion – the range of barriers and possible improvements, watch a recording of the event above or download the transcript.
Speakers:
John Dardo – Acting Deputy CEO of the NDIA’s Partners, Providers and Fraud Taskforce group
John Dardo joined the NDIA on secondment in August 2022 as Deputy CEO of the newly formed Partners, Providers and Fraud Taskforce group. John is responsible for outward facing interactions with providers, partners in the community, the national contact centre and the recently formed cross-government Fraud Taskforce. John has a longstanding senior executive career in the public service, having previously worked at the Australian Taxation Office and Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
Alecia Rathbone – Chief Social Enterprise Officer, Housing Hub
Alecia Rathbone is the General Manager of Summer Foundation’s social enterprise the Housing Hub, that connects people with disability to appropriate housing. She is responsible for the development and growth of products and services of the social enterprise including the Housing Hub website, where people with disability can search for suitable housing by housing type or location, and the Tenancy Matching Service, which supports people with disability to apply for new property developments across Australia.
Bram Heinrich McPartlan – NDIS participant and SDA tenant
Bram lives with multiple disabilities in fully accessible specialist disability accommodation. Bram found accessing the NDIS a trial and it took multiple attempts to obtain the appropriate housing and supports in their plan. Bram now works casually, does disability advocacy and is grateful for the personal freedom and agency the NDIS has given them.
Paul Simmons – CEO, Ability SDA
Paul Simmons is a registered SDA provider that builds specialist disability accommodation. Together with his wife Angie, Paul founded Ability SDA in 2016 in direct response to the need for high quality SDA in NSW. Paul recognised an opportunity to support people with high physical needs by offering independent living solutions and a better quality of life. Today, Ability SDA has 45 accessible apartments with further developments in the pipeline. With a combination of industry experience in economics, finance, property, aged care and SDA, Paul is driven to build cost effective, beautiful, accessible spaces for vulnerable Australians.
