Latest / Sarah Knows Support Workers / Support Worker Guide: What to Do When a Participant Refuses Their Support Plan

Transcript

Support Worker Guide: What to Do When a Participant Refuses Their Support Plan · Sarah Knows Support Workers

• 0:00
  Hi everyone, it's Sarah from Sarah.
• 0:02
  No support workers today. I'm going solo and I'm going to
• 0:04
  talk about this episode because this one feel like as support
• 0:07
  workers, we've all seen this and I we don't talk about it, but
• 0:11
  we're going to discuss it because it's incredibly
• 0:12
  important. Today's topic that I'm going to
• 0:15
  talk to you guys with is what to do when a participant says no in
• 0:18
  their support plan and it it's all happened to us.
• 0:21
  So let's get cracking into it. A participant, A participant
• 0:25
  looks at you and says, I don't want to do that today.
• 0:28
  What do you do? Because how do you handle the
• 0:31
  next 60 seconds? Either it's building the
• 0:34
  relationship or it's breaking it.
• 0:36
  So let's get straight into it. Why participants say no.
• 0:39
  Before we jump into fixing anything, we need to understand
• 0:44
  what a support plan actually means.
• 0:46
  A support plan is a document that outlines of participants
• 0:50
  wants to work towards their goals, their routines, their
• 0:53
  supports, their needs in their day-to-day life.
• 0:57
  And it's meant to be built with the participant, not for them.
• 1:01
  And under the NDIS, everything comes back to choice and
• 1:04
  control. And I would love to remind all
• 1:07
  of us support workers at the beginning of the year, my goals,
• 1:10
  my dreams and my visions change as a person.
• 1:13
  And this also happens to the people that we serve because it
• 1:17
  their goals and dreams and ambitions change as well.
• 1:20
  So, so when somebody says no to us support workers, that's not
• 1:25
  like them being difficult, that's actually them using
• 1:29
  they're rights. And here's the truth, it's
• 1:31
  really about the plan itself. It could be I'm tired, I'm in
• 1:35
  pain, I have had a really bad experience before.
• 1:38
  I feel embarrassed. I'm actually feeling a little
• 1:40
  bit overwhelmed or I don't feel like I'm being heard in this
• 1:45
  moment. And to be fair, there have been
• 1:48
  times we have people out there that we serve that have spent
• 1:51
  years of their life being being told what to do.
• 1:55
  So when they say no, it might be the very first time that they
• 1:59
  feel they're actually in control and heard.
• 2:02
  And to be honest, we should be celebrating it.
• 2:05
  Yeah. Because if you don't understand
• 2:08
  the why, you'll always will react wrong as support workers.
• 2:12
  So a bit of deep diving and a big digging of to why somebody
• 2:16
  says no. The most, what most support
• 2:19
  workers I believe to be honest with you get wrong is that when
• 2:22
  I see support workers get stuck, there is like 2 reactions.
• 2:27
  Like reaction number one is we will push through this.
• 2:30
  It's in the plan. Tick the box, get it done, move
• 2:34
  it on. Next option 2 is do nothing at
• 2:37
  all. Avoid it, we will skip it.
• 2:39
  I hope to God nobody will ask me questions later.
• 2:42
  And honestly neither of them are right because 1 ignores and the
• 2:47
  other one ignores your rope. And the real pressure is here
• 2:51
  because the coordinators are expecting outcomes.
• 2:56
  We have plans that need to be followed.
• 2:58
  We have our internal voices saying you are not doing your
• 3:01
  job properly. And so many of us, workers,
• 3:04
  support workers, we just freeze, to be honest with you.
• 3:07
  And if that is you, it's not that you're doing anything
• 3:10
  wrong, it's just that you haven't been shown how to handle
• 3:14
  it probably yet and how to open communication both ways so we
• 3:19
  can get to the reasons of why. So what should actually do with
• 3:24
  this happens to you? And well, to be honest with you,
• 3:26
  there's all these different strategies out there, but you
• 3:29
  need to work with the strategy that works for that person and
• 3:32
  their communication style. So I'm I will always say get a
• 3:36
  little bit curious if you can before you even think about that
• 3:40
  plan, you should think about the person and start with something
• 3:43
  simple like what's going on for you today or not, or maybe have
• 3:48
  you done it this or not? Maybe it's not in your plan.
• 3:50
  Just be so curious about that person that if you can move away
• 3:55
  and think beyond the plan and see the reasonings of why
• 3:59
  they've come up to this decision to say no, you'd be surprised
• 4:03
  because it's sometimes it's not what you think it is.
• 4:05
  So it could also be how can I modify the activity?
• 4:10
  Maybe it's not going out for a full day.
• 4:12
  Maybe it's going for a short walk.
• 4:14
  Maybe it's not today, maybe it's tomorrow.
• 4:17
  Is it a one off? Like because that's totally
• 4:20
  normal. I mean, everyone has an off day.
• 4:22
  Is it because is it, is it because we're seeing some sort
• 4:26
  pattern now? This is that when you start to
• 4:29
  think, OK, something here is not working and it's kind of like a
• 4:33
  puzzle piece. Yeah, because you're like
• 4:34
  something in this supports not working.
• 4:37
  What can I backtrack and see where it's going a little bit
• 4:41
  wrong? And that's when you loop in with
• 4:43
  your coordinator, the support coordinator, the team, wider
• 4:46
  team, because you remember with the people that we support, it's
• 4:49
  a whole life approach. And please, before you do that,
• 4:53
  make sure you inform the person that we support because they are
• 4:57
  part of the conversation to begin with.
• 4:59
  So if we if the person says yes, then it's about having that
• 5:02
  whole life approach that we have these conversations.
• 5:05
  Not we're not here to override a participants choice.
• 5:08
  We here to adjust supports that actually work for them, that
• 5:12
  fits in their life. Because here's the thing.
• 5:15
  This is exactly why, right matching from the very beginning
• 5:19
  with a person that we serve with the support worker matters so
• 5:23
  much. And it's so much from the start.
• 5:26
  And when it is genuine, when it is compatible, these moments are
• 5:29
  so much easier to navigate in between.
• 5:32
  That's that's why I built Swifty Matchy.
• 5:35
  That's a way to problem solve is matching people according to the
• 5:39
  relationships that fit well and conversations that don't feel
• 5:42
  false. Because there are some
• 5:43
  conversations Sarah's going to have with not everybody.
• 5:45
  Some people you vibe with better.
• 5:48
  It's getting down to make sure that the people that you're
• 5:51
  supporting are vibing, you know, vibing with you.
• 5:54
  But also, I really want to talk about this because this grinds
• 5:56
  my gears because I saw this the other day in a Facebook.
• 5:59
  I don't know what it is about these Facebook groups that
• 6:03
  scares me a little bit, but it was about documentation.
• 6:07
  So you have documentation is also about talking about the
• 6:12
  person, where they're going and getting to and what they would
• 6:14
  like to do with their plans. But also, it's about protecting
• 6:18
  yourself, support workers, because let's talk real here
• 6:21
  about protecting yourself because it matters so much.
• 6:24
  And I worry about this is what keeps me up in the night out of
• 6:27
  anything. Not protecting yourselves
• 6:29
  because every time something happens, you document it, you
• 6:32
  keep it factual, you keep it clear.
• 6:34
  There is no opinions, there's no assumptions.
• 6:38
  For example, what was planned, what the participant said, what
• 6:41
  you observed, what you did instead, That's it.
• 6:45
  And you were showing that you followed the plan, you respected
• 6:48
  choice and control, and you adapted support in a person
• 6:52
  centered way. And if it keeps, if it keeps
• 6:55
  happening and it's quite a big thing that keeps happening, you
• 6:59
  need to escalate it. You need to say something, you
• 7:02
  need to speak up and say something.
• 7:04
  That is not dobbing, that is being a really good support
• 7:07
  worker because person centred plans does not mean forcing
• 7:12
  plans onto people. It doesn't mean ignoring them
• 7:15
  either. It just means adjusting it for
• 7:18
  the person that we serve. So guys, if you ever frozen any
• 7:22
  of these moments and we've all done it, like we're not perfect,
• 7:24
  I'm not perfect. I've done it and I've had to
• 7:26
  readjust the way that my communication style for the
• 7:29
  person that we serve is. You're not alone.
• 7:32
  Like it happens to the best of us.
• 7:33
  And if this has shown you any help or help you navigate
• 7:37
  anything or any little bit in between, I would love it if you
• 7:40
  could leave a podcast review. It takes 60 seconds and it helps
• 7:45
  me create more content for you support workers.
• 7:48
  Thank you so much for today, for the podcast today, and I will
• 7:53
  see you all shortly soon. Thanks.
• 7:55
  Bye for now.