How a Psychosocial Recovery Coach and a Support Coordinator Can Be a Powerful Team

NDIS provides funding to people with disability to develop independence, access new jobs and skills, improve their quality of life, and spend more time with their family and friends. Furthermore, the NDIS plan provides a link between people with disability and service providers. Currently, most programs include funding for psychosocial recovery coaches and support coordinators. This is good news for the participants. However, it’s imperative to differentiate the two professions to gain a better understanding of their potential impact working together.

Psychosocial recovery coaching is a professional approach to recovering individuals with psychosocial disabilities. It is the coach’s responsibility to help participants understand their NDIS plan and explore alternatives. Unlike Support Coordinators, recovery coaches bring skills and knowledge in recovery and mental health. In addition, they help participants navigate the mental health system. More often than not, psychosocial recovery coaches have lived and experienced the participants’ lives. As a result, they have a unique perspective and the advantage of speaking from experience as opposed to data.

On the other hand, a support coordinator uses a general approach to help participants understand their plan. They find the most appropriate support for participants’ needs, monitor the quality of services, track funding, and plan for reviews. Most support coordinators have extensive knowledge of disability but not mental health. As a result, participants with psychosocial disabilities are often referred to a psychosocial recovery coach. As a result, the approach to care is holistic and yields the following benefits.

Refined care

Psychosocial recovery coaches and support coordinators share some roles: however, their subtle differences improve the final quality of care offered to the participants. Referral from a support coordinator to a psychosocial recovery coach refines the services rendered to participants. A recovery coach can handle the complex nature of mental health and support NDIS participants through rough patches in the recovery process. They take more time with the participant; consequently, Psychosocial Recovery Coaching receives more hours than Support Coordination.

Furthermore, psychosocial recovery coaches take a more personal approach to recovery. They focus on short-term and specific goals. However, the Support Coordinator maintains the big picture while evaluating the quality of services offered through the plan.

Two are better than one

Although there is a lot of overlap between the role of a Support Coordinator and a psychosocial recovery coach, their distinct functions can make it easier to support NDIS participants. The two can complement each other when they serve the same participant. In addition, this offers the opportunity to maximise funding and address all the challenges and goals facing the participant.

Furthermore, more hands on deck mean less stress on coaches and coordinators. Since psychosocial recovery coaches can handle many problems that fall beyond the scope of a support coordinator, they can ease the burden by streamlining the channels of referral. As a result, referrals become invitations to collaborate.

Nonetheless, external referrals from support coordinators should be handled delicately to ensure roles are preserved and no feelings of trepidation develop.

There are plenty of opportunities for collaboration between support coordinators and psychosocial recovery coaches. The two can complement each other to yield better outcomes in the care of NDIS participants. Therefore, it is important to work as a team to meet each participant’s expectations.