Supporting Your Clients To Achieve Their Goals
For aged care and disability support clients, identifying goals and pursuing the achievement of these goals can maximise positive outcomes and promote independence, empowerment and inclusion.
Learning about the goals your client is trying to achieve with their care and support services will allow you to tailor your work with this in mind.
So how can you identify your client's goals?
Get to know your client! Whether your client is an NDIS participant with a clear plan of set goals or your client is an aged care client with ideas about what they would like to achieve, by getting to know them you can gain an understanding and focus your attention on what your client really wants.
Ask questions, learn about what makes a difference in their day to day life. Some great questions to ask include:
What is important to you?
How do you see the future? How would you like things to be?
What is working well in your life now? What is not working well?
Are you looking for a job?
Are you thinking about different pathways to finding a job that involve:
- education, vocation or training courses
- community participation
- volunteering
- new skills, such as learning to use public transport, managing daily activities and routines, improving understanding of social cues
What are your future hopes for getting involved in social and community activities?
Are you involved in social and community activities now? For example, playing sport for your local club. Do you want to be more involved?
What are the things you would most like to change in the future?
What sort of things might help you with your day to day life?
What could make day to day tasks easier for you?
What tasks do you find difficult or less enjoyable?
Do your family have ideas about what would make day to day life easier for you?
Do you feel lonely or isolated at home?
What time of day do you think you would like some support?
Do you feel confident getting out and about?
Do you feel unsafe with any tasks at home?
These are some questions that can get you and your client talking about their goals and how you can support them to pursue and achieve their goals.
To find disability support services, please visit www.careseekers.com.au/services/disability-support-workers
To find aged care services, please visit www.careseekers.com.au/services/aged-care-workers
To become a care or support worker, please visit www.careseekers.com.au/carer
To make a referral, please visit https://www.careseekers.com.au/referrals
