Having loved ones to support and guide you is what makes life amazing, but not all of us have people who we can rely on.
We take a look at why creating and fostering a family for participants who don't have any is what life is all about.
The importance of Family in Supported Independent Living.
Some people are lucky enough to have family to support them through life’s many hurdles. This is particularly beneficial for people with a disability. Unfortunately, there are many of us who don’t have family around to help and are, therefore, heavily reliant on carers and support staff.
At Sunnysights, we take this responsibility very seriously and have consciously and deliberately built a service delivery model to ensure our participants see their support staff as family members. How do we do this?
- Stationary staff - Our staff don’t float between multiple houses doing short shifts. They look after one home only and shifts are a minimum of 8 hours. This is a very difficult thing to manage from an organisational perspective but the outcomes are overwhelmingly positive for both our participants and staff.
- Support staff are provided industry-leading pay and conditions - We know how special our staff are. They go above and beyond to enrich the lives of the people they support. To acknowledge this, Sunnysights pays above industry standards; offers consistent and ongoing training and professional development; we work with staff to choose the right amount of hours they wish to work; working only with the participant that suits their experience and training. This results in happy staff that don’t want to work with multiple service providers, and happy staff equals a positive and supporting environment in our homes.
- Communication! Communication! Communication! - You should always expect a lot of communication from your SIL (Supported Independent Living) provider. Daily, weekly, fortnightly, whatever you choose. By prioritising contact with our staff, you are always aware of how the home and supports are being managed. This is vital in decreasing stress, and maximising transparency and accountability. All stakeholders should be contacted to notify of progress reports as well as any incidents and medical appointments.
- Tailored Homes to your needs - Sunnysights puts a huge amount of time and effort into creating a safe and suitable home for your needs and preferences. This means having modifications to help you navigate the homes easier, appropriate furnishings that don’t impede your daily activity and providing a pleasant and fun environment. This is always done working alongside you.
We get that sometimes the support team won’t fit quite right, and that’s ok. We do the hard work sourcing, onboarding and training the right staff to minimise the risk of this happening, but if it does, we’ll work with you to find the right team.
Sunnysights has built many more components into our service delivery model, so if you’d like to discuss how Sunnysights can help you or your NDIS participant please contact us today.
Happy New Year!
#family #sunnysblog #sil #support $disability
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