Here are 6 ways to help your loved-one transition:

1. Choose the right facility

The facility that you select will be your loved-ones’ next home, so make sure to choose it carefully. The best way to know whether the new home is suitable for your family member is to visit it yourself. Make a checklist of your loved ones needs and cross check it with the amenities at the aged care home or nursing home.

2. Stay Positive

When moving a loved-one into a nursing home or aged care, it is very important to remain positive, and supportive even when your loved-one finds the experience overwhelming. The move will be daunting; however, a supportive outlook will comfort your love-one and ensure a smooth and easy transition.

3. Make Their Room a Home

Try decorating their new room they are moving into with the same, or similar decorations to create a similar aesthetic appeal as back home. Familiarity and comfort is key in ensuring your loved-one’s smooth transition into their new space and to feel as comfortable as possible.

4. Check in with Staff

It can be very helpful to speak with nursing staff to address any complaint or concerns your loved-one may have, as well as to gauge how they are doing from the staff’s perspective. Don’t hesitate to ask staff for things such as doing more activities with your loved-one or asking about special requests. The staff and management in nursing homes are there to make the resident’s lives as comfortable as possible. 

5. Visit Often

The elderly can feel abandoned, especially during the first few months of settling into their new home. Being away from familiar faces can lead to sorrow and longing, it is therefore extremely important to visit often. Set time aside that is specially dedicated to visitations.

6. Take Your Loved-on for Outings

If your loved-one is well enough to go out on walks or trips, take the opportunity to let them have a good time outside of their care facilities. Going outside and being exposed to new things may even improve their overall wellbeing. Do talk to their caretakers first before doing so.

Moving your loved-one into nursing care or aged care often congur a range of emotions, felt both by the resident and by the carers. By following the above advice, the move can be made as painless as possible for both parties. Remember to be kind to yourself and to your loved-one and understand that it is not easy for either of you.

To learn more about aged care visit: https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/what-expect-when-moving-aged-care-home

The post 6 Tips to Help Settle Your Loved-One Into Aged Care appeared first on BCD.

Who is eligible?

There are more than 4 million Australians who have some kind of disability. But not every one of those people needs help from the NDIS.

If you’re aged between 7 and 65, are an Australian citizen or permanent resident and require support due to a permanent and significant disability or developmental delay, you should be eligible to receive funding.

To get the most out of the NDIS, you need to do your homework and be prepared.

Here are our top 5 tips for accessing the NDIS:

1. Learn the language of the NDIS:

Make sure you know the difference between Core, Capital, and Capacity. Know the difference between a Local Area Coordinator and a Support Coordinator. Be sure you can distinguish between an Access Request Form and a Planning Meeting.

2. Get ready to apply:

Some people with disability already receive services provided by State and Territory governments. Those people will be contacted by the NDIS and will become participants straight away. They will not have to apply.

If you don’t already receive services but still think you will be eligible for help from the NDIS, you will need to apply. You will need to complete an Access Request Form – but you have to contact the NDIS first to get one.

The Access Request from will ask you for basic information to confirm your identity your age and your residency status. You will also be asked to provide some information about your disability, and how it impacts your daily life. Some parts of the form will need to be completed by a healthcare professional like a general practitioner (GP) or a paediatrician.

You need to remember that it is not your diagnosis that is important but the impact of your disability on your daily life. It’s important to remind your doctor about that when they fill out the forms.

At BCD we help you to navigate through this process aligned with your personal needs and circumstances. Our Transition Support will help you to assess your possible eligibility for the an NDIS package.

3. Pre-planning:

Once the NDIS confirms you are eligible for help, you can start thinking about what you need. This is an important part of creating your NDIS plan. Think about your average day or your average week – what do you currently do, and what would you like to do in the future? Jot down some notes, or keep a diary for a week, or take some photos and clearly define your goals you would like to achieve and what kind of help and support you need. This will help the NDIS develop a plan that provides the right support for you.

The NDIS Planning meeting checklist page recommends filling out and bringing along Booklet 2 – Planning before your first planning meeting.

4. Understand your NDIS plan:

Your NDIS plan will be based on the discussion you had in your planning meeting. Your plan will include information about you, your disability, your daily activities, where you live and who cares for you. It also outlines the support you get from family and friends that is not funded but will help you work towards your goals. But most importantly, your plan outlines your goals and the funded support to achieve these goals. You may not have all the support categories funded in your plan. Some people might have one or two support categories funded and others may have more.

This will depend on your individual needs and may change from plan to plan based on the supports and services you need. Your funding is based on what is reasonable and necessary for your needs, in addition to the support provided by family, friends and other community and government services that you need to live your life and achieve your goals. You must only use your NDIS funding on supports and services that are related to your disability and will help you to achieve the goals in your NDIS plan.

5. Changing plans

Your goals and plans might change. That’s life. Down the line, it helps to be ready to review your plan yourself and approach NDIS with your revised expectations and goals. And remember that you don’t need to navigate the NDIS on your own. There are lots of representatives, organisations and communities that are readily available to help. This is a system that is designed to work for you.

Now that you have your plan in place, and you have chosen your service providers, you can just get on with life.

But don’t just set and forget. It is really important to keep track of how things are going through the myplace portal. You can keep an eye on how your funding is going. Sometimes providers make mistakes when they submit invoices. You want to make sure the funding is being used the way you want it to.

Book in for a complimentary Transition Support consult with BCD to talk through how to access the right type of care, support or funding for yourself or your loved one.

For more resources visit: https://www.ndis.gov.au/

The post Tips to navigate the NDIS appeared first on BCD.

Informal support includes support a person receives from their parents, siblings, or other family members and friends.

Everyone needs a good support network to encourage us and help us when life gets tough. For a person living with disability, a support network may be especially important to assist them with daily activities. Having a wide and growing network of informal supports is key to keeping people feeling supported and safe.

BCD Support Coordination is your link to information, guidance and support to help you to better understand and utilise your NDIS funding package to its full capacity. Whether you just need a bit of help getting started with your NDIS package, or you need a continued service to manage your budget and the payment of services, BCD can support the life you want!

There are different types of informal supports, and can include emotional support, role models, physical assistance and other things that will help a person in natural ways to enjoy a richer life. An informal support could be a ride to an event, helping a person learn new skills or simply companionship and friendship.

If you are planning on getting funding from the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), you must have a plan. You must meet with a person called a Planner from the National Disability Support Agency (NDIA) to work out a plan. Think about what you want to achieve, your goals and aspirations, what you need to have a good life.

Most plans are for 6 or 12 months, thereafter they should be considered again. If your life changes and you need more or less support your plan should change. You can contact your Planner and organise a meeting to change your plan accordingly.

Get in touch with BCD for a conversation to explore if you are really getting the most out of your plan and funding to live the life you want.

The link below has information about what informal supports are, types of informal supports, and how you can get informal supports in your life. Follow the link to access more resources:

https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/operational-guidelines/including-specific-types-supports-plans-operational-guideline

The post Making the most out of Informal Supports & is your plan working for you? appeared first on BCD.

Today, there are services that accommodate in-home care, meaning your loved-one can receive quality care in the comfort of their own home without moving to unfamiliar places. BCD support your loved ones to be able to remain living safely in their home.

Understanding it can be traumatic planning and moving into an aged care facility or nursing home, BCD offers to bring quality care to you. By collaborating with you, your GP, allied health teams and your loved-ones, BCD ensures individualised care plans to meet all of your health and well-being needs.

At BCD we support the life you want, our customers, their carers and families get to choose the care they want, when and where they need it most. Services are personalised and take into account all aspects of your wishes, culture, surrounding and health needs. 

A friendly, trained BCD team member will come to your home to assist you with personal care, this can include bathing, toileting, dressing and grooming. Our domestic assistance includes general household duties such as cleaning, cooking and shopping. An experienced and friendly BCD team member will guide and encourage you to participate and engage in the activities that are important to you, giving you a sense of independence and social interactions within your own community. Our in-home respite services give carers the opportunity to have a break from their caring role while maintaining safety and peace of mind. We also offer transportation services whether you need to go to the stores or regular appointments or to any of your activities, BCD will get you to your destination of choice. 

Home care is more than assisting clients with activities of daily living. Of course, those tasks are critical to people’s care, recovery and function as they recuperate from illness, an accident, or are coping with chronic medical conditions. But BCD brings something special to an elderly’s life – companionship and respect.

BCD want to make it easier for older people, their family and their carers to receive support and access Aged Care services. Reach out to BCD to learn more on how we can assist you to put in place the services you require.

Approved aged care providers have certain responsibilities. These are things like providing quality care and services, managing fees and charges and meeting Australian Government requirements, follow the link to learn more: https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/aged-care/providing-aged-care-services/responsibilities-of-approved-aged-care-providers

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Clinical nursing and care is a service where BCD collaborate with the GP, allied health teams and your loved ones, to ensure individualised care plans meet health and well-being needs. We support your loved ones to be able to remain living safely in their home independently.

Whether you need illness related care, occasional medical advice or long-term support, our highly skilled and experienced nurses will be right by your side. Services are personalised and take into account all aspects of your wishes, culture, surroundings and health needs. We can work with you in a one-off agreement, short-term or an ongoing care needs arrangement.

BCD are registered to be able to provide in-home nursing services and care to people that are aging or living with a disability. Our service offering include:

• Bowel care
• Dementia care and management
• Initial comprehensive nursing assessment
• Hospital at home
• Catheter care
• Enteral feeding
• Oedema management
• Colostomy and stoma care
• Nasogastric tube feeding
• Wound care and management
• Post-acute care
• Diabetes care
• Chronic disease management
• Falls risk and management
• Continence assessment and management
• Pallative care

Our dedicated nursing team is committed to your loved-ones’ health and wellbeing. You’ll have peace of mind knowing you or your loved ones are in the safe hands with one of our experienced and friendly nursing staff.  You’ll get the support you need from someone you can trust in the place you feel most comfortable and safe in your own home.

By entrusting us with their care, you get to spend more quality time with your loved-one.

Find out more about BCD nursing care and contact us today.

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