From Hospital to Home with NDIS Funded Support: Examining Participant Pathway Timeframes Against Discharge Expectations

ABSTRACT

For patients with disability who require funded supports to leave hospital, the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) represents opportunity and challenges. At a time of major reform, timely and supported discharge is reliant on overcoming interface complexities. The purpose of this study was to examine the NDIS participant pathway timeframes against discharge expectations for hospitalised adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) or acquired brain injury (ABI) and interrogate delays for the two groups. Administrative data on 54 participants (ABI?=?18 and SCI?=?36) were analysed. Both groups experienced delays to discharge and significant variability in timeframes between NDIS pathway processes and extent of delays. Group differences were identified regarding inefficiencies across the continuum, with type of support a factor to investigate further. This study has uncovered critical points in the NDIS pathway that could impact discharge of participants and where collaboration and adaptive strategies could be targeted to improve processes.

IMPLICATIONS

• Ensuring the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) pathway operates effectively in the hospital setting is critical to the timely discharge of people with complex needs who require funded supports.

• Monitoring implementation of the NDIS in the health setting is important to avert interface problems that impede timely discharge and access.

     

What can Social Psychologists Learn from Architecture? The Asylum as Example

In this paper I argue for a stronger consideration of the possible relationship between social psychology and architecture and architectural history. After a brief review of some of the ways in which other social psychologists have sought to develop links between social psychology and history, I consider the utility of architecture in more depth, especially to the social psychologist interested in the development of knowledge and understanding. I argue that, especially when knowledge is institutionalised, the design and use of buildings might have a particular contribution to make to the way we can understand how phenomena have been understood and approached in the past. Although many examples are relevant, I consider the case of the psychiatric hospital (or “asylum”) in more detail.     

Getting back in the DeLorean: modernization vs. anti-modernization in contemporary British politics

ABSTRACT

This article highlights a growing clash between mainstream modernizing and populist anti-modernizing forces in the UK. Whilst scholarship on UK party politics has, for the past three decades, focussed on processes of party modernization, little attention has been paid to the countervailing processes of resistance towards modernization. This contrasts with comparative studies, which show that throughout much of Europe modernization processes have worked to produce populist backlashes from anti-modernizing forces seeking to reassert various types of traditional values and practices. Drawing on the comparative literature on modernization, our argument here is that a similar populist backlash against modernization is occurring across the political spectrum in the UK and has been a factor in: the rise of nationalism associated with UKIP and the SNP; the 2016 BREXIT vote and the efforts of both Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Conservative PM Theresa May to distance their parties from the legacies of their modernizing predecessors. Empirically, we show how this increasingly prevalent line of conflict is playing out in the UK, whilst theoretically we argue that a discourse theoretical approach can provide significant advantages over existing approaches for understanding the dynamic interplay between modernizing and anti-modernizing discourses.     

‘Keeping families and children in mind’: an evaluation of a web‐based workforce resource

This study outlines pilot evaluation data of the web‐based training resource ‘Keeping Families and Children in Mind’, designed for clinicians who work with families where a parent has a mental illness. The resource was developed from scoping existing workforce packages and in consultation with consumers, carers, researchers and mental‐health clinicians. Preliminary evaluation data were collected from an urban and a rural site in Australia via focus group interviews and pre‐ and post‐training questionnaires to ascertain the experiences of those who participated in the training. Additionally, training facilitators were invited to maintain journals in order to identify planning and implementation issues when using the resource. Post‐training, participants emphasized the need to work collaboratively with others, as well as the importance of acknowledging and working with the family members of consumers, especially children. Also, participants reported positive changes in knowledge, skill and confidence when working with families affected by parental mental illness. Facilitators highlighted technology issues and the need to work interactively with participants when using the resource. Recommendations regarding policy and future research conclude this paper.     

A Preliminary Comparison Study of Online and Face-to-Face Counseling: Client Perceptions of Three Factors

This preliminary study examined the similarities and differences between online and face-to-face counseling with regard to general mental health, working alliance, and social presence. Participants included 50 current counseling clients (37 face-to-face, 13 online) who all were recruited through online mediums. Results indicated that online counseling clients perceived a significantly stronger working alliance on the total Working Alliance Inventory-Short Form as well as the Goal subscale than did those who received face-to-face only counseling. No significant differences existed between the groups on general mental health or social presence. These results suggest that a more controlled study with a larger sample might find that a strong working alliance can be developed through online counseling.