Process For A Psychologist Working With Therapeutic Supports Clients
Process For A Psychologist Working With Therapeutic Supports Clients
NDIS registered psychologists a great chance to contribute to the disability and rehabilitation sector by working in behavioural intervention and support. Psychologists act as support coordinators and offer services of therapy support to assist NDIS participants with a range of areas such as decision making, family or relationship issues, depression, anxiety, and many others.
Here is a short guide explaining some key aspects of the role.
What do Support Coordinators do?
There are three levels of support coordination:
Support Connection
Clients will be linked with informal, community and funded supports
Support Coordination
Clients ensure a mix of supports are used to increase your capacity to maintain relationships, manage service delivery tasks, live more independently and be included in your community. Support Coordinators support and assist clients to understand and appropriately introduce the NDIS-funded support services to their plans.
They can also help NDIS clients by connecting them to further community and government services that are best suited to their needs. Support Coordinators will work closely with an NDIS client, their family and/or their carers and provide advice and assistance with:
Helping in contacting a range of service providers and in setting appointments;
Explaining service agreements;
Assisting in negotiations with service providers on plan services and costs; and
Conducting plan reviews.
Specialist Support Coordination
Clients will receive a higher level of support coordination due to a more complex requirement, demanding more specialist support. This will usually involve more qualified professionals in Occupational Therapy, Psychology and/or Social Work.
Specialists Support Coordinators help clients manage challenges such in the support environment, such as health, education and justice services and ensure the service is provided regularly.
What is a service agreement?
For NDIS clients to obtain supports from NDIS accredited service providers, a written agreement, known as Service Agreement, should be made between them and their provider(s).
A Service Agreement may include information such as:
Agreed supports and services offered to clients by service providers;
Delivery frequency of supports and services;
Costs of supports and services;
How, when and where supports and services will be provided;
Duration of supports and services;
Information regarding its reviewal;
Handling of issues or problems with the support and/or service;
Clients’ responsibility under the Service Agreement;
Service providers’ responsibility under the Service Agreement; and
Cancellation and termination policies.
Additionally, such agreements may also include any other information that clients and service providers would like to use.
Tips to write NDIS therapy reports of a high standard
Therapy reports have two main goals: they act as evidence for the NDIS to make decisions regarding funding and they inform NDIS participants, their families and carers follow an NDIS plan. For this reason, professional therapists, such as NDIS registered psychologists, must produce high standards of therapy reports, with clear outlines of participants’ progress in their plans.
Here are 5 major areas to be addressed to ensure therapy reports of high standards:
Overall readability
It is important to understand that a wide range of people read these reports, including non-specialists. Therefore, therapy reports must be appropriately structured, in plain writing and be simple, quick and easy to understand for all.
Key information
Vital information such as participants’ information, symptoms, event timelines, session details, outcomes and recommendations must be mentioned in the report.
Outcomes and evidence
The NDIS makes funding decisions for participants based on their need, goals and outcomes. For this reason, there is a very strong emphasis for reports to support all evidence and recommendations with strong evidence and link them to participants’ goals.
Clear and strong recommendations
Providing recommendations is a very important part of writing a therapy report. This will assist the NDIS in understanding what support and service participants require and how it will link to their goals. Furthermore, it is also crucial for report writers to be specific with quantities of support and/or services required for participants (e.g. the number of hours of therapy required).
Responding to “reasonable and necessary” supports
The NDIS only funds supports that are deemed “reasonable and necessary”, that benefit participants with achieving their goals, assist their social and economic participation, and is cost-effective, among others.
Additionally, writing therapy reports come with legal responsibilities as well. If the NDIS rejects a support or service or if an NDIS participant is not satisfied with the support, the participant can request for a review of their plan. If this review does not resolve the issue, participants can request an additional review at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), where they can use their therapy report as proof. In such situations, report writers may need to act as expert witnesses and defend the information and recommendations they made in the reports submitted to the NDIS.
Plan reviews
Plan reviews are organised by the NDIS and are aimed to measure progress towards personal goals, identify new goals and to note any new lifestyle changes. Furthermore, it will also be an opportunity for participants to provide feedback on their supports and services and if they successfully contribute to achieving their goals. These will help the NDIS make any necessary modifications to the amount of support and funding participants would require.
Plan reviews for adults aged between 7 and 65
The first plan review will be conducted by the NDIS and will usually occur 12 months after a plan has been implemented but could be scheduled up to 24 months, based on participants’ circumstances, needs and goals. Depending on participants’ preference, such reviews can be done face-to-face or by phone and family members, friends or other persons can be brought along, when the plan is reviewed.
Plan reviews for children aged under 7
Children under the age of 7 with a developmental delay or disability have access to the Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) approach, which aims to support children early in their childhood to reduce the impact of a developmental delay or disability on their lifestyle. For children receiving ECEI support, plan reviews will be conducted by ECEI coordinators. Reviews will be conducted similarly to adults, where the supports and services’ efficacy and progress towards the participants’ goals will be assessed.
Key resources
About the NDIS and the NDIS Commission:
About the NDIS and State-based requirements:
https://providertoolkit.ndis.gov.au/
https://providertoolkit.ndis.gov.au/21-readiness-checklist
Tips for therapy report writing:
Positive Moods is a group of NDIS registered psychologists based in Queensland, Australia. Contact us if you have existing NDIS funding for psychological services and would like our support.