Diffrence between support and care. Part one

so this post is going to look a bit different because it's a very broad topic to do and this is the difference between support and care there is a subtle but fundamental difference between support and care and we see that in support there are several different approaches to support the first being, passive support and this can work for some but not for others and it is suggested that passive support is a much better approach to support and passive support is where a support worker does things for a person and not with the person and this in some cases can be a good thing as the person might not have the capacity to be able to do things for themselves but they are able to watch and learn and this is passive support. 

 

Active support is when a person does things with a support worker and the client is very ready to learn and engage with the support worker, and it is such a subtle but vital difference to know the difference and to know what a support worker can and can't do and I would suggest being very clear and getting it in writing what limitations your support workers have. 

 

There will be things that are a duty of care issue and it to me is an issue of being sensible around support and how to support this person as we see that support is more than two people working together to achieve a goal around this person’s capacity building and support as the support is built around the belief that a person can build capacity when they are given the skills to do so.

 

Also when you ask a person what a support worker is it would be like Matt Walsh asking people at a pride parade what is a woman, it really depends on whom you ask, so in myself being a person with a disability see that it can be challenging to be aware to not slip into learnt helplessness, where I am getting a support worker to do it for me but to work with a support worker around it or to meet them halfway. 

 

We also see that people that aren’t paid to support them are actively involved in their lives and this keeps the person grounded in reality as well, as sometimes having constant support isn't realistic in the real world and this keeps the person grounded. 

 

 However in getting back to the subject we see that a support organization would say that they a people who are able to achieve your or your loved ones’ goals, and this can be as simple as helping with homework or therapy exercises if it is a child or it could be in a day centre environment and this is something that we see becomes an issue if a support provider has a day centre as well as housing there will be a have and have nots due to people receiving extra attention at the day centre but this is the capacity that you would find many support workers.

 

Or in the case of “higher functioning,” clients and despite the objections it is a technical term that is used in the NDIS, we see that their would then be clients that aren’t interested in attending a day centre but have a limited amount of time for “community engagement” and this is where you would see a support worker and it often is hard to pick in hidden disabilities who is the client and who is the support worker just on the way that they are dressed or assumed age.

This is generally because the client can request to have the support worker in casual clothes however there are some companies that do both disability support and aged care and they are often given a uniform and which often protects both the client and the support worker because if the person has complex behaviours or is liable to have sensory meltdowns we see that people having recognizable uniforms makes people reassured that this person can handle the situation, but at the same time gives accountability to people who are less experienced in disability and may indirectly harm a person with a disability saying rude things about them so it can prompt people to speak up if they see bad behaviours from the staff.

 

However, now we know what a support worker is we see that we now need to know the difference between support and care what makes this so tricky is that care can be given by a support worker but it is slightly more involved, and there is more complex skills involved, such as knowing how to shower someone to use a wheelchair or a hoist and this can be a massive issue as well, due to the lack of training on how to use different hoists and mobility aids and this is something that some agencies are working on having occupational therapist train the support workers in how to use them as well.

 

Also, care can be given to a family member or a friend due to a medical condition that isn’t covered by the NDIS and we see that this is an issue that deserves its own post, but it is much more involved as well and support is the formal name given to care when it is done by support workers and this is where the training gets tricky as it is mostly activities as helping with activities of every day living and then we need to know what are the activities of every day living.   For someone who has a high level of functionality we see that it could be driving them places to do chores,  or on the end it could be wiping behinds, and cleaning up “accidents,” let’s be real some disabilities and chronic illness do present these issues.

 

So What I am trying to say is that care is much more involved and helps with personal hygiene much more than normal support, and support is generally less complex, and the person can complete hygiene tasks on their own.  When I say hygiene tasks I am talking about washing hair, toileting, showering, dressing, and tying up shoes. 

 

When I say activities of daily living this is cooking, cleaning, laundry and engagement with the community, or depending on the skill level of the client it could be picking them up from work or study, helping them run their own business, or even in my situation keeping me organized with the back end of the blog and YouTube. 

It could also be prompted by keeping relationships on track and this could be that the support worker has a relationship with the client’s family we see that this is where informal and formal supports come into play in that people are all on the same page and we see that they can work towards the goals of the client as sometimes the family will pick up what a support worker isn’t able to or unable to do for that client.

This is where the support organization or independent support worker it is so important to have a good working relationship with the client’s family and friends, and then we are all on the same page.   But to finish up we see that care is more complex and involved than support.