When welcoming a new customer into our service or support business, we often find ourselves caught up in the whirlwind of paperwork, sorting out funding, grasping their specific needs and desires, and empowering them to take charge of their lives.
However, there's a crucial aspect we sometimes overlook - understanding their disability.
In our efforts to provide what they require; we might not always take a moment to consider what we really know about their disability.
Take, for instance, conditions like Parkinson's disease or Prader-Willi syndrome. How much do we truly know about these conditions? How can we broaden our understanding, and how can online research assist us?
We're all busy people and keeping up with the latest trends in the disability sector can be challenging, especially with the constant changes to the NDIS.
However, when we take the time to prepare coordination or support reports, having a deeper understanding of a customer's disability—both from therapeutic and medical perspectives—can be hugely beneficial.
The primary goal of research is to guide action and gather evidence. Research skills are an important component of the writing process (think your next coordination report) because they allow you to discover information and build better outlines for your reports. You may even find information that you never knew, or the reader (NDIS planner) never contemplated when they are formulating your customers funding needs.
Here are five reasons highlighting the importance of research:
1. Acquiring knowledge:
Even if you already know a lot, there is always more to learn. Research assists in expanding your prior knowledge and creates an opportunity for progressing not only your awareness but you’re understanding.
2. Problem Solving:
Making your understanding better can help you tell apart two types of research. One type tries to learn new things, and the other uses what we already know to solve real-life problems. Having this wider understanding can be handy for different tasks, like finding problems, figuring out why they happen, and coming up with solutions.
For instance, let's consider Parkinson's Disease: In Parkinson's Disease, non-motor symptoms can be more debilitating than the motor symptoms. Your client might be dealing with mild motor issues, such as hand tremors, (which could be more apparent) but cognitive changes could be more overwhelming, affecting attention, planning, and memory. Factors like depression, fatigue, dizziness, and sleep disorders can significantly impact daily functioning. These are the often unseen and unspoken about symptoms. When determining what your client might require in their core budget, it's essential to account for the examples mentioned above. Its also about finding solutions to ease these daily symptoms and how the customers supports, whether family/friends or paid can contribute. |
3. Staying Informed with the Latest Information:
Research helps you stay up to date with the newest developments in the disability sector and the medical field, where breakthroughs and discoveries happen regularly. Keeping yourself informed puts you in the know, enabling you to provide valuable information to your customers more effectively.
4. Enhancing Your Credibility:
As the saying goes, "knowledge is power." With knowledge, you gain confidence in discussing disability-related issues with customers, occupational therapists, and fellow healthcare professionals. Ensure your research relies on trustworthy sources, such as scholarly articles and disability-focused associations. As an example: Parkinson's Australia.
5. Boosting your Business Success:
Having an enquiring mind that seeks out the latest knowledge and trends in the disability sector and your customers disability gives you a competitive edge, elevating your business's reputation. Positive word-of-mouth can help your business thrive and expand as you become known for your expertise and willingness to go that extra mile.
In conclusion, research is a practical and essential tool that empowers us to provide the best possible support to our customers with disabilities. It is research where we can bridge the gap between paperwork and understanding, between funding and meaningful assistance, ultimately providing a more inclusive and supportive environment for all those we serve.
The Lama Care Team
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