Support coordination – the delicate art of balance – Q7

Panel members

• Elizabeth Hickey (EH) – Support Coordinator, AFA Support Coordination
• Sera CrichtonAita (SC) – Support Coordinator, Australian Regional & Remote Community Services
• Kate Read (KR) – Founder/CEO, Inspires & Co
• Zena Dyson (ZD) – Specialist Support Coordinator/Team Leader, Esteem Care Services
• Danni Bament (DB) – Managing Director, Aspire Recovery Connection

Good service providers are worth their weight in gold. What do you look for in a provider, what sets one apart from another, how do you find them, what do you expect of them, and how do you create a balanced client/support coordinator/provider relationship that keeps everyone happy and engaged?

EH – There are three things I look for in a service provider:

1. Quality and repeatability. Most services start out providing great quality service, but the best services continue to provide the same level of quality and repeatability for every client. So many different services have started great but, in the long run, week after week the quality disappears.
2. Retention of staff. How long are staff with a service? One of the best indicators of a quality service is how long their staff have been with them – typically a service delivers good quality individualised support when the staff are well trained and enjoy working for the business.
3. Communication. How well does the service communicate with all stakeholders? Do they answer all the questions? Are they easy to get in touch with? Do they communicate with both myself as the support coordinator, and the clients themselves?

SC – How they work with the participant, what sort of activities they have them involved with. I look out for great feedback from the client – something they noticed was different between the providers.

If a provider is on their phone, or when the staff don’t provide feedback and say they just drove around town, that’s not good service.

Try out providers twice and you will know. Also, meet and greet the provider with the participant, ask the participant ‘What do you like about the disability support worker?’.

KR – I always align myself with like-minded providers who put the participant first. I always look at service agreements, cancellation/termination timeframes. People who treat clients like humans, not a cash cow.

ZD – I generally use only service providers that I know and trust will do the right thing by the participants. I always have in the back of my mind when selecting services for participants that the participant is trusting me to connect them with good people who will listen to them, care about them, and will provide quality services. This is extremely important to me.

DB – Good service providers are so valuable, but what makes a good provider can also be very individual.

We work with people to understand what they most value in a service so we can do our best to meet their needs. The one key thing I would say sets a good service provider apart is that they truly listen to what the person wants from their service and are flexible and able to tailor the support to meet that person’s needs. A ‘one size fits all’ approach in my opinion never works.

In terms of keeping everyone engaged, like all our work in the NDIS, it’s up to what the person wants. Good communication is the key and, as a support coordinator, helping a person to feel comfortable and confident that they can express their expectations and requirements to a service provider.

If the person doesn’t feel comfortable or able to do this themselves then I would talk about options for me to assist in that communication. This could include making a phone call to the service provider or sending them an email together, or setting up a meeting whereby all parties get together to ensure everyone is on the same page and the person is feeling heard and their needs understood.

Click here for question 8.