A Transdisciplinary Approach

Transcription

1 A Transdisciplinary Approach Your user friendly guide to our Early Childhood Support services.

2 Contents What does Northcott do? 3 What is Early Childhood Intervention? 4 What is Transdisciplinary Practice? 5 What does a Transdisciplinary team look like? 6 What does Northcott s model look like? 8 Your transdisciplinary team 10 How is Transdisciplinary Practice different? 14 Frequently Asked Questions 17 Get in touch with us today 20

3 What does Northcott do? Established as The NSW Society for Crippled Children in 1929, Northcott was founded by The Rotary Club of Sydney to deliver services for children with tuberculosis, polio and other diseases. Today we help more than 13,000 people with a range of disabilities, their families and carers across NSW and the ACT. Our purpose is to build an inclusive society where people can live the life they choose. We do this in partnership with the people we support by offering services that are professional, innovative and designed to help people achieve their goals and reach their full potential. As a Person Centred organisation, the people we support are placed at the centre of everything we do. This means we work consistently to achieve more choice, voice and control for people with disabilities. EARLY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE We work with more than 5,200 children. We have a strong track record of delivering effective early childhood services including individual and family support, speech pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, early childhood, education, social work and nursing care. We also have experience working in a range of settings including preschools, homes and playgroups. A Transdisciplinary Approach 3

4 What is Early Childhood Intervention? Early Childhood Intervention means doing things as early as possible to work on your child s developmental, health and support needs. Early Childhood Intervention services offer specially targeted support to children typically aged 0-5 and their families. 1 Young children with disabilities or developmental delays, their families and communities, benefi t greatly from Early Intervention services because they promote development, well-being and community participation. 2 All our Early Childhood Intervention services use a family-centred approach, recognising the importance of working in partnership with families. Working in partnership means families have a bigger say in how services are delivered to their child and this leads to more positive outcomes for every member of the family. Our Early Intervention Services are tailored to meet your child s needs and focus on supporting your child in their everyday experiences and activities. 2 OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT For more than 80 years we have been delivering high quality services young children with disabilities Opened our fi rst school for children with a disability, The Fred Birks Activity School at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children 1938 Set up our fi rst holiday home for children with a disability in 1938, Beverley Park Farm at Campbelltown 1942 Miss C Young starts work as our fi rst Occupational Therapist 1943 Our fi rst Speech Pathologist is employed 1944 Miss E Firth is employed as our fi rst Physiotherapist 1963 Our fi rst preschool for children with disabilities opens as a part of the Northcott School 1 Raising Children Network (2013) Early Intervention for Disability. As taken from raisingchildren.net.au/articles/ disability_earlyinterventiomn.html 2 Early Childhood Intervention Australia (2012) What is Early Childhood Intervention? As taken from 4 A Transdisciplinary Approach

5 What is Transdisciplinary Practice? Transdisciplinary practice involves a team of professionals working together to deliver individually tailored early intervention services to children and their families. The services delivered include early education, therapy, counselling and family support. Families are valued members of this team and are involved in all aspects of intervention. One professional is chosen as the main point-of-contact for families. This person, commonly known as a Keyworker, helps coordinate the delivery of services to the families by managing links between members of the trandisciplinary team. The whole team remains involved and the keyworker reports back to the team constantly. NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE AGENCY DEFINITION The NDIA describe transdisciplinary practice as involving a team of professionals who work collaboratively, and share the responsibilities of evaluating, planning and implementing services to children and their families. Families are valued members of the team, and are involved in all aspects of intervention. One professional is chosen as the primary service provider for the family, and acts as the conduit for the expertise of the team. The full team remains involved, and the primary provider reports back to the team constantly A Transdisciplinary Approach 5

6 What does a Transdisciplinary team look like? The transdisciplinary team surrounding each child and family is made up of a range of professionals from one organisation, focussed on early intervention, supporting the child with a disability and their family. One team member acts as the key worker (as seen in the red circle below). This is like a team around the child. 3 Team around the child This team and the supports it delivers are then combined with the other existing services and specialists surrounding the family and child to provide interventions, services and supports tailored to the individual s needs. Community and Transdisciplinary team around the child 3 Davies, S. (Ed) (2007) Team Around the Child: Working together in early childhood intervention. Wagga Wagga: Kurrajong Warratah 6 A Transdisciplinary Approach

7 At times, families can fi nd coordinating all their supports, collecting all the information, implementing all the suggestions and trialling all the strategies made by their entire team can be quite overwhelming. Family as key communication point It is for these reasons that a Key Worker is utilised in the transdisciplinary model. The Keyworker can reduce some of the stress families face by sharing the responsibility for some of the communication. Keyworker sharing communication A Transdisciplinary Approach 7

8 What does Northcott s model look like? A KEYWORKER As part of the service you receive from Northcott, you and your child will be allocated your own Keyworker. Your keyworker: Helps you come up with goals that match your dreams for your child and your NDIS plan Is the point of contact between you and our transdisciplinary team Is the point of contact between our transdisciplinary team and your existing supports (e.g. preschool, GP) Shares information about your child s development, success and achievements with other team members Gives advice which allows you to coordinate services, understand professional terminology and practices and access resources. Supports you to implement the recommendations made by the team into: Your family s existing daily routine, Keyworker Your home environment Other places of signifi cance e.g. the local playground Offers you a flexible and responsive service that varies over time to meet the changing needs of your child and your family. Work very closely with you, your child and any other signifi cant people in your child s life, e.g. grandparents Davies, S. (Ed) (2007) Team Around the Child: Working together in early childhood intervention. Wagga Wagga: Kurrajong Warratah 5 ECII (2012) The Key Worker: Resources for Early Childhood Intervention Professionals. Noah s Ark Inc, Victoria, Australia 8 A Transdisciplinary Approach

9 Northcott s keyworker will provide you and your family with four primary elements: 6 ECII ECII (2012) The Key Worker: Resources for Early Childhood Intervention Professionals. Noah s Ark Inc, Victoria, Australia A Transdisciplinary Approach 9

10 Your transdisciplinary team As part of the service we offer, you and your child will also be supported by a highly skilled transdisciplinary team. Northcott s transdisciplinary team comprises of the following professionals: Behavior Support Early Educator Nurse Occupational Therapist Physiotherapy Social Worker Speech Pathologist The transdisciplinary team members are responsible for: Working in a way which promotes transdisciplinary practice. Identifying areas of need your child may have that specifi cally relate to their profession and areas of clinical expertise. Feeding into your child s individual plan and supporting the direction of your child s goals. Providing your keyworker with specialist support directly related to your child s needs. Providing your keyworker with ideas, strategies and techniques that will meet your child s unique needs but can be implemented into your everyday family routine. Giving your keyworker training that relates directly to your family s needs. Communicating to the keyworker any responses to questions you may raise or providing any tailored advice that is required. 10 A Transdisciplinary Approach

11 Communication between your keyworker and the transdisciplinary team takes place through a variety of means: 1. Joint visits with the keyworker to your family home, preschool or other environments important to your family, as per your child s plan. 2. Fortnightly team meetings, where your child and their current skills, abilities and needs will be discussed in detail. 3. Informal team discussions and brainstorming around alternate or innovative ways to meet the needs of your family. A Transdisciplinary Approach 11

12 Your child, you and the Keyworker allocated to your family sit at the core of your transdisciplinary service from Northcott. Stemming from your keyworker, or sitting behind your keyworker, is the transdisciplinary team who will support you, your child and your family. It is this element that creates our unique transdisciplinary model. Northcott s model 12 A Transdisciplinary Approach

13 Placing the transdisciplinary team behind your keyworker ensures your family are not dealing with a revolving door of specialists coming in and out of your family home. It also means you are not getting a disjointed service because it s the keyworkers job to make sure that all team members contributions can be: moulded together to suit your routine, shaped as one to meet your everyday family activities, varied as a group to suit the changing needs of your child. You, Your Child & Key Worker A Transdisciplinary Approach 13

14 How is Transdisciplinary Practice different? Many families ask us about what the difference is between what they experience now with their current services and what they will experience under a transdisciplinary model. Isn t it all the same? FAMILIES & SEPARATE SERVICES Some families access a range of services through a variety of health, private, government, not-for profi t and education providers. These services may or may not communicate with each other and their goals may or may not align. Imagine this to be like backpacking around the world you get your fl ights from one website, book your accommodation through a travel agent, get your dinner from a restaurant, you pick up a voucher for that attraction. This way of providing a service to a child is not transdisciplinary because service provision occurs in isolation (see below visual representation). Approaches used by one profession may not align with strategies being recommended by another profession. It can feel disjointed and all parties rarely communicate as a whole. Behaviour Specialist Physiotherapist Early Educator Social Worker Nursing Speech Pathologist Occupational Therapist 14 A Transdisciplinary Approach

15 FAMILIES AND INTERDISCIPLINARY OR MULTIDISCIPLINARY SERVICES Some families access a range of professionals from the one agency, in addition to some external clinicians. Some professionals may be paid for by government funding, others through private health or out of your own pocket. Some will work closely together and others will work independently. All of these professions combine to create a service that meets all of your needs, but not all professionals will share goals, collaborate or will work closely together. Imagine this to be like a package holiday, or a hop on hop off tour. Some portions of your holiday are organised for you and seamless in operation, others you need to organise for yourselves. This way of providing a service to a child is not transdisciplinary because your primary contact person (or keyworker as they are sometimes called) may work alongside you for a portion of time, but then steps back and lets a visiting team member do the next portion of work mostly focussed on that specifi c clinical skill set then your contact person steps back into the picture. Each professional remains the owner or the expert, then you and your contact person request their assistance and expertise as required (see below visual representation). A Transdisciplinary Approach 15

16 FAMILIES AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY SERVICES Families using transdisciplinary services access a wide range of professionals. The primary service involved provides the family with a keyworker, the keyworker then assists families to gather the strategies and information from all professionals involved and implements them into everyday activities. The keyworker acts as the fi lter and translator of professional jargon. The keyworker facilitates the family to continue to be the expert on how to best meet their child s needs. Imagine this to be like going on a holiday with your own private tour guide. You still go to the main attractions and see the sites, but you get a more personalised service. Your tour guide points out the hidden treasures, takes you behind the scenes, helps you to learn more about a culture. This way of providing services to a family is transdisciplinary because your keyworker is providing you with a range of fl uid and fl exible suggestions that combine the ideas and concepts from all team members simultaneously. You should feel as though you can apply these techniques across many of your family routines, with a number of people who are important to your child and in multiple settings. It should feel continuous and perfectly matched to your family at that point in time (see below visual representation). 16 A Transdisciplinary Approach

17 Frequently Asked Questions Will my child be seeing all team members, all the time? How often you and your child see your key worker and transdisciplinary team members is based on your child s individual NDIS package and NDIS plan. Will my child still receive weekly therapy? Our services will align with your child s NDIS package and plan. The frequency of supports provided by your dedicated key worker and the transdisciplinary team will be based on your NDIS package and plan. How much does the service cost? How much your child s transdisciplinary service costs is based on your child s NDIS package. We can provide a detailed fi nancial breakdown of what your child s package may look like on a week to week basis. I work and have another child at school. How flexible can you be? We are able to tailor services to suit your family needs such as: providing services in your home or another setting of your choice, scheduling visits around school hours, suspending services while you go on holidays. A Transdisciplinary Approach 17

18 Can I keep my existing private therapist? We believe that where possible, collaborative solutions result in the best outcome for families. We are keen to discuss innovative partnerships with you and local private providers who are willing and able to work under an NDIS transdisciplinary arrangement. How long does the intervention go for? The duration of your transdisciplinary service is based on your child s individual NDIS package and NDIS plan We have more than one family member with a NDIS package, what can you do for us? We offer a range of services and supports to people of all ages and abilities. We are able to tailor our services so they 1. Meet the needs of each family member who has an NDIS package 2. Flexibly support your family unit as a whole For families who have two children, who each have a transdisciplinary package, we are able to align fl exibly both packages in a way that gives you with the maximum level of support, but the least disruption to your family routines. 18 A Transdisciplinary Approach

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20 Get in touch with us today Our NDIS team look forward to speaking with you more about your needs and goals for the ndis@northcott.com.au LIKE FOLLOW