The Summer Foundation has again partnered with Social Ventures Australia to undertake a survey of how much and what types of Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) development is being planned and built around Australia.
SDA supply survey
Sometimes the outcomes of a project have impact far beyond what was planned or anticipated. The Participant Led Videos project that we rolled out earlier this year was one such case. Our Clinical Practice Lead, Cath Bucolo, shares her reflections:
I’ve been working in the fields of acquired brain injury, rehabilitation, disability and advocacy for more than 20 years. But, surprisingly, it’s only recently that I’ve come to fully appreciate the lack of opportunity people with disability have to work out what’s really important to them, to find their voice, and be really heard.
CONSUMER & FAMILY CARER NETWORK UPDATE – SUMMER 2018
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There is a buzz around the office as the NDIS makes improvements to its processes. We’re really pleased to see decisions approving new build specialist disability accommodation (SDA), which bodes well for the new opportunities in apartments in NSW and Queensland and provides confidence for those wanting to build SDA.
The Housing Hub is a new way for people with disability to find suitable housing.
People with lived experience joined hospital discharge staff and disability sector professionals at our Annual Public Forum to discuss the best ways to support people to return to living in their communities.
The Summer Foundation has developed a suite of materials that will assist people with disability who have complex support needs to make a short, personalised training video for their support workers.
The NDIA has announced the rollout of a new Complex Support Needs Pathway.
A new online resource aims to help people understand appeals against NDIS decisions.
It’s been an exciting couple of months for the Summer Foundation in both the housing and health spheres. We have been busy scaling up practical solutions to the challenges faced by young people with complex support needs in the rollout of the NDIS.
The latest quarterly report from the NDIA included a new set of market data relating to specialist disability accommodation (SDA). It showed that at the end of September 2018, more than 9,500 NDIS participants across Australia had an SDA payment in their NDIS plan and over $90m had been committed in SDA payments. There were 2,200 registered SDA dwellings, and of these, 260 were newly built.
The role of support coordinator is critical to keeping young people out of aged care. As part of our new Support Coordinator Flagship Program, the Summer Foundation is creating a Community of Practice to encourage knowledge sharing and to foster professional connections between support coordinators. We also plan to connect great support coordinators to those in aged care or at risk of entering aged care.
The two winners of the 2018 Allen Martin Scholarships were announced at the Allen Martin Memorial Lecture in November.
Our CEO Luke Bo’sher and policy manager George Taleporos met with Royal Commissioner Lynelle Briggs and her team in November. We are very pleased to report that young people in residential aged care and the issues related to this group are a high and early priority for the Commissioner.
Applications are open for Summer Housing apartments in quality new developments in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba and Sydney suburb of Rockdale.
2018’s Annual Public Forum, “From Hospital to Home”, brought together more than 150 hospital discharge professionals, people with lived experience and disability sector professionals to discuss the best ways to support people to return to living in their communities.
In January 2016, Will Cookesley had an accident that resulted in an acquired brain injury. The accident brought his close-knit family even closer, and for the past 2 1/2 years they have worked tirelessly to ensure that Will is able to regain as much independence as possible. Will was initially told it was unlikely he would walk again.
Source: Pro Bono Australia | Reporter: Luke Michael
Experts believe a new platform helping people with disability find a home could become the Airbnb of accessible housing.
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The winners of the two $5000 2018 Allen Martin Scholarships have been announced.
Clinical neuropsychologist and Monash University Research Fellow, Dr Kate Gould (pictured above, left), received a scholarship for her Australian first research to help protect people with acquired brain injury (ABI) from cyber scams
“This will be the first study to investigate how common cybercrime is for individuals with ABI,” Dr Gould said. “We will look into the types of cybercrime experienced and factors which may contribute to this vulnerability.”
She said understanding, preventing and effectively managing the impact of cybercrime had the potential to enhance quality of life for people with ABI by maximising their safety and confidence in accessing the internet, email, social media and other online activities.
Danielle Sansonetti (pictured above, right), an occupational therapist and senior clinician at the Alfred Health ABI Unit, will look at ways to optimise independence for individuals with ABI through successful application of daily routines after they transition to the community.
This will assist clinicians to better understand those interventions that can be applied in rehabilitation in order to achieve clinically important long-term outcomes.
“Investigation of an individual’s ability to maintain their daily routines in the community following discharge from residential rehabilitation will provide clinicians with important information around the factors that contribute to long-term sustainability of routines in the community,” she said.
About 40 people attended the Allen Martin Memorial Lecture and scholarship announcement on 14 November.
The lecture was presented by Professor Fary Khan, who discussed the “evolving role of rehabilitation in global health”.
The Allen Martin Research Scholarships are sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kew and Robinson Gill lawyers.
Source: Pro Bono Australia | Contributor: Professor Jacinta Douglas
La Trobe University Professor Jacinta Douglas examines how young people with disability end up in aged care, and how we can change these people’s lives for the better.
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Source: Sunday Herald-Sun | Author: Karina Grift
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A scratch on her leg dramatically changed Deb Huismann’s life forever. Her story is a great example of why our work to keep young people out of aged care is so important.
Reproduced with kind permission from the Herald-Sun.
ROYAL COMMISSION UPDATE
In September Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a Royal Commission into Aged Care.
The commission’s interim report is to be provided by 31 October 2019.
You can view the Royal Commission’s Terms of Reference here and read our statement regarding the Terms of Reference here.
We are very pleased that young people in residential aged care and the issues related to this group are a high and early priority for the Royal Commission. You can read our briefing paper about the Royal Commission here.
GETTING INVOLVED
To see how the Summer Foundation can support you or a family member to have your say at the Royal Commission click here.
Or you can contact the Royal Commission at: agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx.
CFC UPDATE – SPRING 2018
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We welcome the Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of a Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Prime Minister Morrison purposefully included mention of young Australians who live in residential aged care.
The Royal Commission will look at the quality and safety of care in aged care. It’s not clear if it will also look at the system changes that need to happen to stop young people ending up in aged care in the first place. We think it’s really important to include this in the Royal Commission, so that young people will stop being forced to live in aged care because there are no other suitable options. Read more
Support coordinators are among the most critical professionals assisting people to achieve positive outcomes under the NDIS. It is support coordinators who assist young people to explore their housing options and find alternatives to residential aged care.
In 2009 Penny suffered a stroke. Four years later a motor vehicle accident caused further injury.
Through her NDIS plan Penny was funded for home and car modifications, support hours and equipment.
Her first plan increased her independence and social interactions – she says:[it was] a good package and opened up my world. I felt liberated.
However, at subsequent reviews items were removed. Penny’s informal supports had also broken down in the meantime and despite needing additional support hours, her package was reduced. Getting less support at home resulted in more frequent hospital admissions
for Penny.
Penny has been forced to pay for the community nursing and items not covered by health or disability funding out of her own pocket, which means less money for food and other essentials.
Penny has worked in the disability sector for a number of years, so is well informed and has a good understanding of the sector, but she too has had to work tirelessly to navigate the health and disability systems.
Penny will be speaking about her discharge experiences with the NDIS at the upcoming Annual Public Forum
on October 11.
The NDIS is still working out what is reasonable and necessary for people with disability and complex needs. Difficulty accessing appropriate health supports is one of the reasons young people are admitted to aged care.
So we were pleased with the decision by the Administrative Appeal Tribunal (AAT) in relation to Mazy v. the NDIA. Mazy requested the provision of care by a registered nurse to administer regular insulin, which was declined by the NDIS. After an internal review, Mazy took her case to the AAT. The AAT found that it was a reasonable and necessary support for a registered nurse to administer her insulin (in accordance with s 34(1) of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth)). For details of the decision: http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/AATA/2018/3099.html
If you need access to nursing care to live well in the community you may want to print this decision to take to your planning meeting. Or, if your plan does not meet your needs, consider seeking advocacy support to request a review. To find an advocate see https://disabilityadvocacyfinder.dss.gov.au/disability/ndap/