What to Do When Someone Asks You How to Find Support

Every support worker gets asked this. At a barbecue, in a waiting room, by the daughter of someone you already support. Someone finds out what you do for work, and within about ninety seconds the question follows.

Most people answer it badly, not through any fault of their own, but because the honest answer is complicated and nobody has time to give it standing up.

What people are usually actually asking

Rarely what they say they're asking. The question sounds like “how do I find a support worker” and usually means one of four things.

They've just had a plan approved and have no idea what happens next. They've been managing alone and have reached the point where they can't. They had support and it fell over. Or they're worried about someone else and are gathering information before raising it with them.

Each needs a different answer, and one question sorts it: is this for you or for someone else, and has anything been set up already?

Working out which system they are in

This is the part that trips people up, and it's worth knowing, because pointing someone at the wrong door costs them months.

If the person has a disability and is under 65, they're likely looking at the NDIS, whether or not they already have a plan.

If they're older, aged care is usually the door, and that starts with an assessment.

And if they're in neither group, or waiting on either, support can be arranged privately and started straight away. A lot of people don't know this, and it's often the most useful thing you can tell them, because every other route involves waiting.

What to ask before pointing them anywhere

• Whether anything is already in place, because there may be funding sitting unused.
• Whether there's a support coordinator, because if there is, that's who should be doing this.
• What the actual daily problem is, because “we need help” and “mum can't shower safely on her own” are two different conversations.
• How urgent it is, because that decides whether they can wait for an assessment.

What not to do

Don't diagnose the situation for them. Don't guarantee what any system will fund. And don't tell them it's impossible, because for most people it isn't, it's just slower than it should be.

Where to send them

Support Network is a place people can look for themselves. They search by location, experience, language and availability, read profiles of actual workers, and meet before deciding. It is free to them, and to their family, coordinator or plan manager.

If they're early in the process and not sure what they need, we'll have that conversation with them.

How this plays out in practice

Picture a worker at a family gathering, asked by a cousin about her mother-in-law who's been struggling since a fall. The unhelpful answer is that it's complicated and she should look into aged care.

The useful answer is three questions. Has an assessment been done? No. Is anyone helping her look? No. Is it urgent? Yes, she's not managing.

That gets them to the right door, and tells them they don't have to wait for the system to move before anything happens.

Next steps

The next time someone asks, ask the three questions before answering. Then send them somewhere they can act.

If you refer them to us and their supports are still running three months later, a referral fee applies. Terms are on the program page.

→  Refer a client