Q&A Info Session // NDIS: Access & Eligibility // Mon 10 - Fri 14 July

Hi @Pinkicorn

Just letting you know you can ask any questions you have from now until Friday this week 🙂

Hope to see you around.

Nik

Hi Eveyone,

My name is JazzHands, and I'm here as a moderator to assist the NDIS communicate with members of the forums.

If you have a question please ask! I can assist with information, linking and understanding the NDIS. Specific questions can then be forwarded to the NDIS and they will respond in about 24 hours.

These are questions based on access and eligibility around the NDIS - dispelling some myths and helping to understand the process. If you have another question, it may be answered in the previous forum we held, or there may be a forum in fuutre that adresses it. (But dont hesitate to just ask if its critical either!!)

Looking forward to hearing from you,

@Former-Member @NikNik

What does the NDIA think about following this letter http://www.mhcc.org.au/media/86721/example_support_letter_.pdf

Morning!

@ndisrupt

NDIA gave me some info late yesterday to share. In your case PIR are there to support their exisist participants through this process. You can share this information to make sure they have it rock solid too. If you need help finding exisisting evidence you can ask your PIR Coordinator to assist with this. Ta - JazzHands

Access requests – permanent impairment

Likely permanence of impairment can be confirmed when a primary treating clinician (usually a psychiatrist or GP) provides evidence that:

• all appropriate treatment options that may remedy the impairment have been fully explored;
• the impairment (impact of the mental health condition) is likely to remain regardless of the ongoing recovery journey.

Important facts about likely permanence of impairment:

• A mental health condition can be episodic while the attributable impairment can be considered permanent
• There is no requirement for diagnosis (but helpful if available)
• There is no requirement that treatment must be completed for permanency to be demonstrated

Helpful information GP or psychiatrist can provide:

• Onset of mental health condition
• History of treatment
• Recommendations for further treatment (if applicable)

Helpful documents

• Existing psychiatric reports
• Medical reports provided for other government services
• Hospital discharge summaries

NDIS Access Request – Functional Capacity

To enable the NDIA to determine if a person meets the disability or early intervention access requirements, the person may need to provide evidence of their disability. This includes information on what their disability is, how long it will last, and its impact on their life. Evidence of disability and functional impact may be outlined by a GP or health professional in the following ways:

1. completing the NDIS Supporting Evidence Form or sections of the Access Request Form (N.B You get these directly from the NDIS when you apply - JazzHands)
2. documenting that the person has or is likely to have a permanent disability
3. providing copies of reports or assessments relevant to the diagnosis that outline the extent of the functional impact of the disability

The NDIA needs information on the potential participant’s capacity to carry out activities within the domains (functional capacity). Helpful assessments can be completed by AMHOCN trained support workers including:

• Health of Nation Outcome Scale (HONOS)
• Life Skills Profile 16 (LSP 16)
• World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS)

Useful resources:

Completing the access process for the NDIS – tips for communicating about psychosocial disability

https://www.ndis.gov.au/medias/documents/hc4/h9f/8800051462174/Factsheet-HealthProfessionals-A4-V1.0.pdf

@JasJac

See my previous post around permanence and evidence.

You can't really blame your practitioner for giving only that response. So far thats all they really have had to comment on in the past. Many GP's and allied health staff don't really have a handle on what to include for applications to the NDIS as we are all learning together.

The NDIS advised:

Mental health professionals need to provide information on the functional impact of the impairment on the individual
* Functional information is best provided through functional assessment
* When documenting the impact of a person’s disability, the six domains of impact the NDIA requires information about are:
mobility, communication, social interaction, learning, self-care, self-management

I would read this as, yes that is great you have your diagnostic information, but you can get your evidence of imparment information from other allied health sources. (or go back and ask for additional information to your practitioner)

It's about collecting as much evidence around each of the six areas to show how you are imapcted by any mental health or physical health conditions you have. Finally we can discuss our whole selves and how mental health and phyiscal health both impact on us at the same time!

@Former-Member thank you!!

@Former-Member I guess functional assessments are back on the table then.

I asked a question previously:

Exactly what functional assessments can a credentialed mental health nurse do to form part of the access evidence? Please list ie Honos

Hi @JasJac Here is the reply from the NDIA

Exactly what functional assessments can a credentialed mental health nurse do to form part of the access evidence?

A credentialed Mental Health Nurse can assist individuals who are attempting to gain access to the NDIS by providing a written evidence of disability/mental illness. This can be done in two ways.

The Mental Health Nurse may assist by providing a report detailing evidence of the impact that a disability/mental illness may have on their client’s everyday life. This may include history of their condition or diagnosis. This report can be attached to an access request form.

Alternatively a Mental Health Nurse may assist a professional (such as a GP, or an Occupational Therapist) to complete the evidence table in the access request form.

It seemed as though in that answer that a report would be sufficient, however in this thread functional assessments have more weight.

sorry, i don't know how to link to posts.