Passive support and the risks with having only passive support

 

What is passive support and how does it create risks in the NDIS, so passive support is as complex as active support but it is more of a hands-off approach so it is person-centered in a way that there is a minimum direction in what people are being given when they are paying for the support it often happens in people who are higher functioning and are capable of making their own decisions but need support in a practical sense. 

So this is practical support, in activities of daily living and we see that if a support worker makes assumptions, we see that this is where the risk of passive support comes in and there are times when it is very appropriate in a person with a disability.

However, when a support worker is too hands-off we can see it leading to situations if the support worker isn’t fully aware of their client's disabilities it can lead to situations that can lead to the potential for harm so this is where it needs to be balanced with support and this is a very hard balance to find for a support worker and a client, and we see that people who are high functioning due to complex issues that start with the NDIA are left at massive risks of harm and they might be high functioning but they still have a disability.  

 

The issues start with the level of funding that they are often given in a plan as if you are high functioning you are likely to have less funding and less support to build capacity and we see that this can leave massive gaps in support due to this lack of funding, as a support worker, or an organization  you can work within the funding that the person has been given and we see that this can become  the issue when a support worker makes assumptions about a client and this might lead to conflict as the support worker is unwilling to work and change their assumptions this is where the risk or harm can come in when these assumptions aren’t unchallenged and we see that this is an issue, due to the fact that a support worker with each new client needs to go in with an open mind and respect what a person can and can’t do and find a balance between active and passive support and passive support is often doing things that a person might be capable, however it might be easier for a support worker to do it and this is not active support this is passive support and passive support is challenging, due to the fact it doesn’t look like a support worker is being passive, however it can create harm due to the fact that that a person with a disability isn’t learning the new skills that we see that a person needs to learn to do without support. 

But if a support worker is given direction from their office around what they can and can’t do for a person this can again lead to passive support as a part of support is knowing when to say no to a client, but also knowing when to say yes and we see that this is an issue because people want to be able to do things for themselves but the fact that they have been given a support package we see that this is a fact that they have disabilities that need to be respected.

This is where we see that there is a risk in having blanket rules around freedom of movement, I am not talking about not having no rules in a sil house but in having reasonable expectations for both the clients and support workers and managing if they have several clients in the house that don’t deal with change well and we see that this can be a massive issue due to that fact that people want to be independent but a support worker, can take away the learning experience if they don’t know the person well, and this can often happen due to the fact that people don’t realise  what a  complex job being a support worker is and passive support is a interesting thing due to the fact that people think that passive support is hands off but it’s not it to me is being to hands on to the point that there is not learning options for the person that you are supporting and this is where the risk for harm can come and I know you might be thinking but hang on being too hands on, yes as you need to give a person the option to try for themselves and fail but we see that this is a part of life, and if you are constantly protecting the person from failure we see that their can be emotional harm due to the fact they aren’t given the opuntia to experience loss and failure and the opportunity to lean from this.

We also see that people need to be able, to be protected at the same time and this is where the argument gets complex as some people do need a combination of active and passive support and the passive support is more dangerous as it gets the client into a place of complacency when before then they were able to do things for themselves and it is a really delicate balance and this requires having a good relationship with the client and at times the clients family but I have had situations where a support worker has refused to even say hello to my family and would wait in the car or would also saying that even though I at the time was living with my parents we see that this is quite dangerous as a person needs to have basic respect around being a support worker and if your not willing to work with the family and the client and respect their boundaries then I would ask you to question if your suited to be a support worker?

I am not talking about giving the client free rain but if we say have two different options then talking to the client and convincing them to go one way or the other because it benefits the support worker as a support worker you do have power over a client and this is a massive issue. 

However, when a client starts to push back we need to remember that there are going to be reasons for it and it might not be anything to do with the person but to do with what is going on in their life. Also respecting what a person says about their life and getting to the truth of it is really important as well. 

So for a person who is high functioning that gets very tired or deals with fatigue we see that this is what we call being care resistant but you need to ask why and we see that this is because they have always been given a varying level of support and therefore don’t want to get disappointed because they don’t know what level of support they are going to get as support workers are taught to not take away a learning opportunity from the client, however, the client might need help with this and is reluctant to ask because they have had inconsistent support.

This leads me to why would a person have inconsistent support and how it happens, so inconsistent support is where you are in an agency and they have control over who gives you the support, and even in the past if you have clashed with this person you might get a person that, doesn’t know how to support you, doesn’t listen to you, or treats you like a child, these can all create situations where there is a risk of harm because people feel like they don’t have a voice and that they are not given even limited options in their life, and we see that this creates issues because this puts the power into the hands of the agencies but it shouldn’t be like this it should be a team effort in that a person can have a say even if it’s a limited say in what they are doing in there lives.

As well as they need to be able to have family and friend over as this is another issue is that a person can have massive issues with social isolation due to rules and procedures that are in place in a sil house and they might have good reason for them but I am a big advocate of having freedom of moment in a reasonable manner, so this might be a natural progression of things that lead to this being put into place, such as a incident in a support workers car, then a it is decided that all trips need to be pre approved but this can create harm due to the fact that if a person doesn’t have access to the internet and relies on a support worker to help them shop we can see that this could create situations where there is limited food in the house due to the fact that this situation hasn’t been thought about and we see that this is where reasonable risks come into it they could be in a family car and an incident could happen and we see that this is a massive issue in support who is responsible if a person gets hurt and they are trying to protect from harm but this leads to a situation where people aren’t given the option to grow and experience risks in a reasonable manner.

I also see that this could be also seen as an unapproved restrictive practice that is creating harm, and I have other posts that state that I am not opposed to positive practices but am opposed to sharing them without family consent and a behavior support specialist coming in to supervise these practices, in that this is where the risk of harm lies.

Also, we do then on the flip side see situations where a client would benefit from these practices but a support work or the agency doesn’t have everyone on board so isn’t able to be effective and these practices are supposed to be used as a last resort but at the same time they are used in a manner that can be seen as ineffective and puts the power on the providers. Support workers are inconsistent with their care and have a different level of care each time.  Or to have a different support worker every time.