Question

Describe what the term ‘self-directed support services’ means to older people or to people with a disability.

Answer 1

Self-Directed support is an approach that provides an oppurtunity to the people with disability or the elderly who require support and their family to choose the most appropriate disability supports and services for them, inorder to achieve positive health goals. In this approach the individual with disability and their family are the active participants in designing the framework for their self directed support They can uses the resources like funds to plan, choose and buy the support services that best suits them..

The Elements in creating a Self-Directed Support framework are: Quality Planning, collaborative work with different different available resources, Boosting individual choices and control, adopting chances within their affordability and capacity, Openess to favourable changes, Accountability, Accepting support from peers, Logically purchasing the necessary supports, reinforcing community connections and ensuring protection to the care receiver.

Few principles on which Self-Directed Support works are:

• People with disability are accepted as a part of human diversity and humanity
• Right for proper information in an understandable manner
• Equal rights to be respected and for dignity for the persons with disability like anyone else
• Right to autonomy [right to be independent to make own choices related to one's life]
• Right for equal treatment [ an individual cannot be discriminated based on their disability or any other factor like caste, creed or colour]
• Right to be active participants of their community and to be provided with equal opportunities too
• Right to utilise their potentials for the development of their own life.

Disability services/disability supports :are the funded services that are specific to individuals with a particular disability.

The supports included under disability services are :

• Providing with necessary health aids and supportive devices
• Modification of the environment that suits the limitations of the individual (home environment,vehicle settings)
• Personalized care
• Acess to available Community services
• Support for participating in community activities
• Support for specialist accommodation if needed that aids to carry out essential activities of daily living
• Domestic and transport assistance
• Orientation training for mobility and other activities of daily living
• Vocational services like training for a vocation or support to resume
• Assistive therapies like speech therapy, physiotherapy, behaviour support and counselling
• Crisis and Emergency support
• Providing with guide dogs for support those who have scarce manpower support
• Long term care planning for a productive life.