Building a reputation as a great support worker can involve thinking outside of the box and providing supports that help people reach their goals. Depending on the person you are supporting, they can either be part of the agenda for the day or may involve new and creative ideas on how to spend your time together.
As a support worker, providing a variety of activities is not only beneficial for the person you are supporting, but could be fun for you as well!
Here are a few examples of activities we’ve been doing to help the people we support to achieve their personal goals:
Weight Loss Goal
Our support worker team has helped achieve weight loss goals. For example, we have helped someone lose over 40kg by helping them engage in walking and exercising activities in their local area, including swimming at the local aquatic centre with the support of their team.
Equine Therapy
Our Nextt support workers have engaged an Equine Therapist to help promote physical and mental health. Equine therapy involves a range of treatments with horses and other equines.
Community Access Goal
Building the confidence of the people we support is a major goal. For example, we have helped someone who didn’t have the confidence to leave their home, to now visit coffee shops, or McDonalds every Friday with their support worker.
Beach Goal
Our support team helped encourage a member of our Nextt community to take a trip to the Bayside Foreshore in Brisbane. After many conversations, they accepted, and travelled to Wynnum. They stated that it was the best day they had in years and are now planning another day out in the future.
Social Group Goal
Attending small social groups is a wonderful way to get out into the community. We have had success in encouraging people to attend small group gatherings, including a high tea social group.
How Nextt INDIE can help
At Nextt, our INDIE platform allows us to capture the goals of each of the people we support and creates an accurate summary on how effective our support services are in helping them to achieve those goals.
Nextt INDIE allows us to focus on the individual needs, and work collaboratively with the people we support to achieve their goals. Based on our latest INDIE results, over 20% of the people we support state that getting more active in their local communities was a goal that was very important to them.
As a support worker, encouraging forms of social engagement is beneficial. If you think you have what it takes to join our network of disability support workers, visit our careers page to see our current roles available.