People who have many different
medical needs
Most people think a person who has many different
medical needs may have to live in an institution.
There is often no other choice given because people
think the person cannot live in the community. It is
harder for people with many different medical needs to
get supported living, but they can still be much
better off living in the community. This is because a
person meets people and has relationships and this
makes their lives more interesting.
A person with many different medical needs could
have supports that are planned very carefully. The
person would need supports to be safe to live in the
community. For example, Blanchet & O'Donnell
(1998) describe a team of individuals, families,
service coordinators, and other staff of Shriver
Clinical Services Corporation who support people to
live in the community. Each person has their own plan
to meet their own needs, history and life. This
support adds to the general supports also available in
the community. The plan sets out what support each
team member gives the person. The plan makes sure the
person's medical needs are taken care of. The plan
also says what should happen in an emergency. Family
Partnerships is a program that supports children with
many different medical needs to live at home.
Xavier
Children's Support Network is another program that
moves children with many different medical needs out
of Xavier Children's Hospital and supports them to
live at home. This is an Australian organisation for
children. It shows how we can meet the person's many
different medical needs at home. Moving from an
institution to a support network took about four
years. Today most of the children are living with
their family with full support from community
services. Some children live with other families who
share their care with their own family.
Read
more stories
Blanchet A & O'Donnell C (1998). Community
safeguards and supports for individuals with complex
medical needs. The Advocate.
Blanchet A & Noble N (1998). The genesis of
medical safeguarding: 20 years of clinical practice in
the field of disability. TASH Bulletin.
