ISSUES CASE Of the people supported by NAS advocates, 41% had one key issue of concern, 52% identified between two to seven issues and 6% had in excess of eight issues, illustrating the complexities requiring advocacy support in the lives of some people with disability and the complexity of NAS work. The most frequent advocacy issues were housing, health, justice, social welfare, childcare related court cases, family and relationships, money and tax. 2015 When an advocate with an individual, empowerment is a key component of the work. By building confidence and capacity, the individual may over time be willing and able to speak up on their own behalf. Therefore, self-advocacy is an essential element of any advocacy plan. In addition, many different concerns may be included into the individual’s advocacy plan. Throughout the year and across all the people supported by NAS, the advocacy issues varied, but with some key areas of support needs arising consistently: - Support in accessing important personal information - care plan, transition plan, personal outcome measures (POMS), person centred planning (PCP) documents; Support in expressing will and preference to ensure input to decisions; Support in understanding legal/appeal processes to ensure the person’s will and preference were heard in these processes; Support with accessing choice about where and with whom to share accommodation, when moving from residential to community living. The implications of the health de-congregation policy (closure of institutional style settings of 10 or more people in favour of smaller settings), means that many people with disabilities are now experiencing a change of home environment for the first time in many years. HIQA standards and government policy support the person being involved in the decision making process. However, the complexity of health and social care systems often results in an individual experiencing exclusion from important decision-making processes, thus creating the clear need for NAS advocacy support for the people involved.
Of the people supported by NAS advocates, 41% had one key issue of concern, 52% identified between two to seven issues and 6% had in excess of eight issues, illustrating the complexities requiring advocacy support in the lives of some people with disability and the complexity of NAS work. The most frequent advocacy issues were housing, health, justice, social welfare, childcare related court cases, family and relationships, money and tax. 2015 When an advocate with an individual, empowerment is a key component of the work. By building confidence and capacity, the individual may over time be willing and able to speak up on their own behalf. Therefore, self-advocacy is an essential element of any advocacy plan. In addition, many different concerns may be included into the individual’s advocacy plan. Throughout the year and across all the people supported by NAS, the advocacy issues varied, but with some key areas of support needs arising consistently: - Support in accessing important personal information - care plan, transition plan, personal outcome measures (POMS), person centred planning (PCP) documents; Support in expressing will and preference to ensure input to decisions; Support in understanding legal/appeal processes to ensure the person’s will and preference were heard in these processes; Support with accessing choice about where and with whom to share accommodation, when moving from residential to community living. The implications of the health de-congregation policy (closure of institutional style settings of 10 or more people in favour of smaller settings), means that many people with disabilities are now experiencing a change of home environment for the first time in many years. HIQA standards and government policy support the person being involved in the decision making process. However, the complexity of health and social care systems often results in an individual experiencing exclusion from important decision-making processes, thus creating the clear need for NAS advocacy support for the people involved. CASE ISSUES