Improved daily living and life skills
Support aimed at needing less support, which is an odd thing to sell and the right thing to do.
Improved Daily Living is the part of a plan aimed at capacity rather than assistance. The point is not that someone does the task for you, it is that in six months more of it is yours.
It is slower than doing things for people and it is the work that actually changes a plan over time.
What we work on
Cooking, from a single meal to a week of them. Shopping and budgeting, including managing money week to week. Using public transport, and travel training on the routes you actually need. Managing appointments and correspondence. Personal organisation and routine. Keeping a home: cleaning, laundry, maintenance. Communication and self-advocacy, including saying no.
How it is done
Alongside you rather than instead of you, and broken into steps small enough to succeed at. Progress is written down, because it is the evidence at a plan review that this funding is doing something.
It works best where it is boring and consistent: the same task, the same time each week, with the support fading as the skill grows. The measure of success is the number of prompts going down, not the number of hours going up.
Questions
How is this different from in-home support?
In-home support does the task. Improved Daily Living teaches it. They often run alongside each other, and they are funded from different parts of the plan: Core supports for assistance, Capacity Building for skills.
How long does it take?
It depends entirely on the skill and the person. Cooking one meal reliably might take six weeks. Independent travel on a new route might take a term. We set a goal, work to it, and write down what is happening.
Is progress reported?
Yes, and it is the point. Plan reviews go better when there is evidence rather than an impression.
What if a goal turns out to be the wrong one?
We change it. Goals set at a planning meeting sometimes do not survive contact with real life, and that is not a failure.
Can this be delivered in SIL?
Yes, and it should be. A share house is a good place to learn to cook, manage a budget and run a week.
Make a referral or ask about a placement
Tell us the supports the plan funds and when they need to start. We respond the same business day.