What is Social Work?

Social work is a university-qualified Allied Health profession that promotes social change, development, cohesion and the empowerment of people and communities. Social workers have knowledge of human behaviour and development, life cycle stages, families and social networks, disability and health, including mental health.

The Social Work profession operates at the interface between people and their social, cultural, physical, and natural environments. Social Workers operate from a 'person-in-environment' perspective, providing interventions that address issues at both the personal and social levels. Accordingly, Social Workers maintain a dual focus on improving human well-being and managing any external issues that impact well-being or create inequality, injustice and discrimination.

Social Work Therapeutic Support is covered under CB Daily Living in the NDIS. Hamers Edge's Social Workers are accredited Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) members.

What does Social Work with Hamers Edge look like?

• Adolescents / Adults

At Hamers Edge, we assist participants with exploring the different domains in their lives. This can include relationships and friendships, mental well-being, school/work, finances, housing, religion, culture, parenthood, independent living skills, community connection, and more. Together, we look at what is working well, what can be improved and what prevents them from achieving their personal goals and living a full life.

Once that is established, we'll walk alongside the participant to try out different interventions, explore practical support options, and consider potential changes to the environment.

We aim to work towards congruence, which we believe is an essential well-being factor. A person is congruent when their outside actions match what they feel on the inside. In other words, it's when a person's behaviour matches how they feel and think about the situation. With congruence, there is a sense of harmony and agreement between self-image and ideal self.

Social Work Therapeutic Support through Hamers Edge is expected to increase a participant's self-awareness, emotional literacy and theory of mind. In turn, this can assist with building and maintaining relationships, improving challenging relationships, identifying meaningful and sustainable employment, and increasing emotional regulation and self-esteem.

• Children / Young Teens

We generally work with the family system (primary caregivers) for children and young teen participants. No person, especially not a minor, is a silo in the world. The complexities that can be found in families, particularly families with one or more members with a disability, will impact the whole system. Not just the person with a disability or vice versa.

The aim of therapeutic Social Work in this space is to explore what socio-environmental factors may be preventing successful goal achievement for the child. We then work with the family to build the understanding and ability to advocate for their child's disability-related needs and to make changes within the unit to achieve sustainability of the informal support role.

Provided by qualified Social Workers, Employment Related Counselling is designed to assist participants to successfully engage in work. Functional and/or workplace assessments and employment related counselling may benefit participants who have, for example, experienced traumatic injury or exacerbation of an existing disability and need significant support to develop a new or modified work pathway.

This support can also be useful for participants who have limited work experience to assist in identifying their unique barriers to employment and to inform a work goal and development plan.

Employment Related Assessment, Counselling and Advice is covered under CB Finding and Keeping a Job in the NDIS. Hamers Edge's Social Workers are accredited Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) members.

There is a common misconception that Functional Capacity Assessments (FCAs) can only be undertaken by Occupational Therapists (OTs). However, as confirmed by NDIS, several Allied Health Professionals may undertake an FCA, provided that it is within their scope of practice.

Hamers Edge offers complete Social Work based Functional Capacity Assessments for participants diagnosed with Autism, FASD, Intellectual Disability and certain Psycho-Social Disabilities.

For NDIS Participants with other disabilities, we can work closely together with their Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist to create a joint, holistic report or provide a socio-environmental report to accompany an existing Functional Capacity Assessment.

Please note: Child participants and participants with limited communicative ability are not required to be present for the full assessment. We recognise that the primary caregiver will have the most valuable information about their true day-to-day functioning, so most information gathering will be done with the caregiver.

The Assessment Process

A full Functional Capacity Assessment with Hamers Edge generally consists of three appointments of about 2.5 to 3 hours each. The appointments can take place at the participant's home, at our clinic in Midland, WA, or via Telehealth. We prefer to have at least one meeting at the participant's home, if possible, as part of the environmental aspect of our assessment.

The following aspects are covered during the three appointments:

ECO MAPPING
A person (and their support need) cannot be understood without understanding their environment, as these are interconnected. An Ecomap is a tool to visualise the person’s relationships with the external world and the quality of these connections. It does not only focus on pathology and problems but also the strengths and resources of the participant in interaction with their environment. An Ecomap assists with identifying appropriate support recommendations based on a specific participant's unique circumstances in their environment.

LIFE DOMAINS
Through conversation, we explore what's currently happening in life and how the participant's disability impacts this. We generally discuss Mental Health, Physical Health, Finances, Housing, Social Relationships, Romantic Relationships, Family Relationships, Vocation, Parenthood, Spirituality, Interests and Hobbies, and Community Connection.

STANDARDISED ASSESSMENT
Last but certainly not least, we complete a standardised assessment together that captures the participant's functioning compared to similar-aged peers. We generally undertake the Vineland-3 for child participants, and for adult participants, we generally undertake the ABAS-3. Both these tools assess a person's capacity without assistance, and their general participation. In other words, the capacity is not determined by what a person physically and intellectually can do but what they are able to intrinsically engage in without any prompting, reminding, or assistance.

The Report

A comprehensive FCA report describes all information gathered through the assessment and review of any shared medical and allied health reports. The report includes a description of the participant's primary and secondary disabilities, the participant's Eco Map, their functioning domains, updated goals, and support recommendations.

Hamers Edge prides itself on going the extra mile to address all the NDIS Reasonable and Necessary Criteria for each recommendation, based on best-practice evidence and in accordance with the participant's unique circumstances.

The Cost

Functional Capacity Assessments are covered under CB Daily Living in the NDIS.
At Hamers Edge, we charge an hourly rate of $190. Our Functional Capacity Assessments generally take a total of 15 hours, which comes to a total of $2,850 (excluding travel).