{"id":4597,"date":"2021-09-17T16:49:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T06:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/?p=4597"},"modified":"2022-05-31T16:46:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T06:46:44","slug":"disability-support-workers-dont-need-experience-or-qualifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.hearthaustralia.com.au\/disability-support-workers-dont-need-experience-or-qualifications\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability Support Workers Don\u2019t Necessarily Need Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Disability Support Workers Don’t Necessarily Need Experience or Qualifications Given the Proven “Hearth Approach” to Support<\/em><\/h4>\n

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A Good Disability Support Worker Doesn\u2019t Necessarily Need Qualifications or Experience.<\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\n

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At Hearth, when onboarding new Clients, we are often briefed by the Client that the \u201csupport workers for my child must be very experienced!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Through both personal experience and my experience with Hearth however, the need for \u201cexperience\u201d in many cases does not necessarily result in the best Disability Support Workers.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This is a key insight and learning for us which has been an important factor in the ability of Hearth to develop a very diverse and competent workforce to match the significant ongoing demand for NDIS Disability <\/em>Support Worker services.<\/a><\/p>\n

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This insight and the Hearth approach to support services is at odds with several different professions and occupations in which experience and education generally are directly related to competence and the speed to competence in the job. For example, if you are being sued and you can afford it, you secure the most experienced and well qualified lawyer.<\/em><\/p>\n

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What are the Client\u2019s Needs?<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

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In disability support work however, the Client\u2019s needs can be so varied that there needs to be extensive Client specific training and subsequent on the job or shadow training to build competence.<\/em><\/p>\n

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At Hearth, we support some of the most medically complex children in Victoria. Once we find a Support Worker with the right personality and attitude match for the Participants, we then train them in Participants home together with the Participant and the Allied Health and Medical Professionals.<\/em><\/p>\n

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There is no room for variation or error in these situations, so we do not look for people with \u201cexperience\u201d but rather those with the right ability to listen, learn and take specific and detailed direction from the Client or Family ongoing or as required.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This is a great example of where we have built the appropriate support team who over time would be regarded as \u201cexperienced & qualified\u201d within the disability sector, although originally the Disability Support Worker started with no or limited disability related experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

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How Do You Know the Training Requirements of a Client Before You Meet the Client?<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

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The requirement for experience also relates to training in the sector. There is no one qualification currently that would equip an individual to support everyone in the disability sector. If there was, a single qualification it would not be the most efficient and effective way to approach ensuring the best equipped Support Workers for each Participant. Which is why up-front qualifications are always welcome at Hearth but not essential.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Participant support can involve such a wide variety of tasks including assisting with personal care, daily living, medication, meal preparation, light domestic duties, travel training, mobility, companionship, and community engagement.<\/em><\/p>\n

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That\u2019s why Hearth\u2019s approach is to firstly establish a relationship with the Participant and their goals, then match a Support Worker. As you would expect Hearth Participants vary enormously by personality, interests, goals, age, and disability. We then coordinate specific and necessary training to equip our Support Workers with the appropriate skills to succeed.<\/em><\/p>\n

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In my view there is a base level of common principles and approaches and beyond this, the training plan should be based on the skills and competence to support the Participant.<\/em><\/p>\n

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We provide our Support Workers with a friendly, personalised, flexible, supportive, and caring work environment, from the initial interview through to ongoing support once matched to a Participant.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Importance of Integrating Communication Technology<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

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Importantly, ideally where applicable, the Disability Support Worker should also be guided and trained by the entire support team including <\/em>Allied Health,<\/a> Educationalists and Medical Professionals who together guide and support the realisation of the Participants goals.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This support team should also be connected via leading technology to enable efficient ongoing communication, case noting and goal tracking. Hearth uses \u201cRYVER\u2122<\/a>\u201d for this purpose which has had terrific feedback from all stakeholders including families, Allied Health and Support Coordinators.<\/em><\/p>\n

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 Often the Hearth Disability Support Workers spend the most time with the Participant, so the Hearth approach works best with the whole support team working well together guiding, training, and enabling the Disability Support Workers.<\/em><\/p>\n

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My Lived Experience<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

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Fourteen years ago, in 2007 I had virtually no experience or exposure to life with a disability or Disability Support Workers. Then my son Tristan was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Our life changed dramatically, and my wife and I realised that Tristan required a tremendous amount of support to live his best life.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Our Life Before the NDIS<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

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Pre NDIS, we navigated the existing support organisations and systems to find what we believed to be the most appropriate support that we could get for Tristan. I have to say navigating the old system was extremely difficult and challenging. In the old system you would be allocated a Disability Support Worker for a couple hours a week if you were lucky. The Disability Support Worker may have never met my son or had a briefing on what his needs were so we would have to brief the Disability Support Worker on Tristan\u2019s needs and how to execute them. The next week you could be allocated a completely different Disability Support Worker, so you would have to go through the whole process again! It wasn\u2019t the ideal scenario for Tristan, the Disability Support Workers, or our Family!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Hearth Support Services was Born in 2017<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

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When the NDIS came to fruition in 2016 with 9 years lived experience I seized the opportunity to create my own organisation to provide responsive support without the hassle. It is my belief that every person is truly different and unique and getting the match between the Disability Support Worker and the Client right is critical<\/strong> to ensure the best outcomes for the Client, the Disability Support Worker, and the Family.<\/em><\/p>\n

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As a result, <\/em>Hearth Support Services<\/em><\/a> was NDIS registered and launched in 2017. The initial focus of Hearth was recruiting, employing, matching, and training Disability Support Workers.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Based on my lived experience and exposure to over 100 Disability Support Workers, I thought that it was possible to develop a business approach that was Client centric<\/strong>, which meant understanding the Clients goals, interests and needs and getting the best match possible between a Disability Support Worker and the Client.<\/em><\/p>\n

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