Ever since its introduction in 2013, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has strived to empower people with disabilities through various government-funded disability supports and services. This nationwide scheme provides direct funding to eligible participants, including those with psychosocial disabilities, for them to purchase the supports they need. Like any other disability support funded by the NDIS, mental health supports are included in a participant’s plan if they meet the NDIS funding criteria and are found to be ‘reasonable and necessary.’
The NDIS usually funds mental health supports that are not clinical in nature. Typically, NDIS-funded mental health supports focus on improving the functional capacity of the participants and those supports are directly related to their psychosocial disability. Psychosocial Recovery Coaches are an important NDIS-funded support item. Recovery Coaches are mental health experts who help the participants in their mental health recovery journey. According to the NDIS, recovery means that the participant is able to achieve an ideal level of personal, social and emotional well-being despite their psychosocial disability. Recovery is an incredibly personal process and will be different for each person. The NDIS is not supposed to be a replacement for the informal and mainstream supports of the participants. Instead, it is meant to work together with other support systems. Therefore, the NDIS will fund mental health supports only if they are found to be the most appropriate body to fund them. Registered NDIS service providers can guide the participants in this regard by assisting them in accessing the supports that best suit their disability needs.
Aastha Community Services believe that people with psychosocial disabilities should have equal opportunities for social and economic participation just like any other member of society. We can help you connect with trained and competent professionals who can help you move ahead in life with the assistance of the right mental health supports. Contact us today to know more.
NDIS, the insurance scheme for people with disabilities in Australia, has progressed by leaps and bounds to bring the disabled community to the forefront and making them equal stakeholders in the development of society. However, even with all the progress, we have made, people with disabilities resulting from mental conditions or more specifically, psycho-social disabilities are at a disadvantage when it comes to avail the complete benefit of the scheme and realizing their full potential. NDIS seeks to support those people whose social life is at significant detriment due to their psychological conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Being a relatively new initiative by the NDIS Commission, many are still confused about the scope of mental health support NDIS can offer and whether they are eligible for the support.
Only non-clinical mental health supports are provided through NDIS and the gap between mainstream mental health services and NDIS causes difficulty for the participants. NDIS is not to be seen as a replacement of mainstream services instead, the commission’s conviction is that maximum benefit can be achieved by properly bringing together both the systems. To realise this for participants with mental health disabilities, NDIS has recently added the provision of a recovery coach to bridge the gap between the two. Mental health is a complex condition to assess and hence a lot of suitable candidates slip through the cracks. Intending to remedy this, NDIS has changed their working principle to focus on the functional disability caused by the mental condition rather than the diagnosis itself.
If you are a qualified participant for NDIS mental health support, it is important to find a service provider who will cater to your needs with compassion. If you are in Western Australia, Aastha can be that provider for you. A registered NDIS provider, Aastha’s services are available anywhere in Perth, Joondalup, Mirrabooka, Morley, Osborne Park, Victoria Park, Canningvale, Maddington, Armadale, Cockburn Central, Kwinana, Rockingham, and Mandurah.
For more information, contact Aastha Community Service in WA
