The initial NDIS meeting can be daunting for any individual and their loved one. You don’t know what to expect and you don’t know what results you will achieve in the meeting. Naturally, this can be quite overwhelming, regardless of the extent of assistance required.
But there are many ways in which you can prepare yourself for the initial meeting. From collecting all your records, to defining your objectives, research providers and understand your needs, here are five essential tips for your NDIS meeting pre-planning:
Collect your records
The most reputable NDIS provider Mentone has will always advise you to collect your records and gather your information before your meeting. Obviously, the last thing you want to do is go into your meeting without the documentation that will determine a greater level of assistance, so be sure to gather everything you need to allow you to receive a greater amount of assistance from the scheme.
Naturally, this means gathering your loved one’s medical assessments, records and reports, ensuring that they are all updated and ready to present during your meeting. Your medical records are essential to proving that your loved one requires a certain level of assistance and should therefore be a core priority for your meeting.
Define your objectives
What do you and your loved one hope to achieve through enlisting this essential assistance scheme? Does your loved one hope to live in improved comfort than before enlisting assistance? Or, do they hope to break barriers and become a greater part of their community and social circle? Or, are they looking to gain a certain level of independence, working their way towards a particular job or position?
Whatever the reason, it is important that you and your loved one define your objectives to ensure that the assistance can help you work towards them. Everyone has different reasons for enlisting NDIS assistance, and therefore it’s important to write down what you want to achieve through enlisting the service!
What are your loved one’s living needs?
And, of course, no-two individuals have the exact same care needs. Your loved one’s situation is vastly different to that of other individual’s, and so you have to consider what kind of assistance they will need to get the best outcomes from the service.
Do they need assistance with daily tasks like cooking and cleaning? Or, could they use help getting out of the house and socialising? Their assistance requirements vary depending on their situation and this is another aspect that has to be annotated before your initial meeting.
Research providers
There are literally hundreds of thousands of NDIS providers in Australia. Obviously, that shouldn’t overwhelm you, as you will be looking for one that can offer services in your particular area, but it is still important to conduct your research to ensure you find a team that can offer the assistance your loved one needs.
For example, your loved one might require in-home care, and so it is only natural to search for a team who can do just that. You can then look into their reputation and how other participants experienced their service – if they have a good reputation then you have found a good provider!
Prepare your questions
Naturally, you are going to have a lot of questions about the service. After all, it’s your loved one’s health and wellbeing, something that requires the highest level of clarity available. So, don’t be afraid to write down any questions you have regarding their care – they are all important to ensuring you have found the right team to offer your loved one proper care and assistance!
