Good relationship is essential when working with a Disability Support Worker. He/she will play an important role in your life. From the start, your goal should include finding a good Support Worker who matches your personality and one who has the knowledge, skills, and attitude to provide the highest level of support according to your requirements.
Finding a good Support Worker is key to ensure that all your needs are met. To guide you, discussed below are some of the qualities that you should look for in a Disability Support Worker.
Table of Contents
Qualities of a good Support Worker
Committed
It is important to find a Disability Support Worker who is reliable and takes commitment seriously. There should be no issues regarding time and availability. A Support Worker should be aware that he/she plays a crucial role in your daily life and should show up according to expectations.
Respectful
Aside from commitment, a Support Worker should exhibit respectfulness by treating youwith equality. He/she should respect your independence and personal choices knowing that these would contribute to leading the kind of life that t you want to live.
Supportive
A Support Worker should give you the freedom to perform certain tasks when you want to and provide the support needed when asked for. He/she should know when to step up as well as when to step back.
Good Communicator
As communication is key to building a good working relationship, it is essential for a Disability Support Worker to know how to effectively communicate. One should be a good listener but should also confirm if everything is understood. It will also be an advantage if they can comfortably discuss topics related to your support needs without breaking boundaries that may cause you to feel uncomfortable.
Empathetic
Empathy is a quality that cannot be taught. It should be innate in a Disability Support Worker to be able to care deeply for the people they support. Being empathetic means that a Support Worker can identify with the feelings of a person and be able to put himself/herself in the place of another.
Patient
A Support Worker should have a broad sense of understanding of what you face when it comes to everyday activities. Full accessibility is not present at all times which means that getting around town, dining out, or shopping could be more difficult than usual. Patience will allow a Support Worker to effectively deal with difficult circumstances and still offer time, effort, and willingness to continue. Instead of getting frustrated, a Disability Support Worker will be able to focus on problem-solving with your well-being taken into consideration.
Experienced
Experience is one of the reasons why a difficult task will be easier to accomplish and why goals can be successfully achieved. It is essential for every good Support Worker to have this trait that can give one the confidence to perform an important role and be able to do it well.
Qualified
There are additional qualifications that are intended to improve the skills and knowledge of a Disability Support Worker. These qualifications will give a professional a better understanding of the Member’s disability and make them more capable to provide the assistance needed towards the achievement of goals.
Finding a good Disability Support Worker is an integral part of improving your well-being and achieving your personal goals. Your family and friends can help in finding the right Support Worker but it also helps to know the qualities to look for so you can also have your personal assessment. To make the selection process easy, it is best to find an NDIS-registered provider that can connect you with a Support Worker who matches your personality and can lead you to living a self-directed life.
Company Bio:
Since 1992, Living My Way has been supporting people with disabilities to live a self-directed life. As a trusted member-based not-for-profit organisation, it takes pride in offering disability support services based on an individualised and holistic approach to help empower its members to live as independently as they choose.
Living My Way has a focus on training and development so that they can work with you to find the best quality Support Workers. As a not-for-profit Living My Way aims to pay industry leading wages to attract and retain Support Workers who align with their values.
As a membership based organisation, Living My Way believes strongly in the role of people with a disability in the co-design of services.
