Getting out of the house sounds simple until it is not. Transport, unfamiliar places, crowds, fatigue, anxiety, or needing someone on hand in case something goes wrong — any one of these can be enough to turn a short outing into something that does not happen. Social and community participation support exists to remove those barriers so your life happens outside the house as well as inside it.
Motherly Health Care is a registered NDIS provider (registration number 4053350558) providing community access support across Oakville, Windsor, Richmond, Pitt Town, Box Hill, Rouse Hill, Kellyville, Blacktown and the wider Hawkesbury and north-west Sydney region, as well as metropolitan Adelaide.
What community participation support looks like
This support is led by what you want to do, not by a timetable we hand you. Some of the ways people use it:
The practical essentials
- Getting to and from medical, allied health and specialist appointments — and being supported in the room if you want that
- Grocery shopping, chemist runs, banking and post office trips
- Attending Centrelink, NDIS planning meetings or other appointments where a second set of ears helps
- Travel training — building confidence with buses, trains and planning a route independently
Things you actually enjoy
- Sport, gyms, swimming and community fitness programs
- Art, music, craft groups and classes
- Libraries, cinemas, cafes, markets and local events
- Faith and cultural community activities, and staying connected to your community’s calendar
- Volunteering, work-readiness activities and short courses
- Visiting family and friends, and keeping up the relationships that matter to you
Building skills along the way
- Handling money and budgeting while you are out
- Ordering, asking for help and managing conversations in public
- Recognising and managing fatigue, sensory load or anxiety before it becomes overwhelming
- Making and keeping social arrangements without support over time
One-to-one, or with a group
Some people want a support worker beside them and no one else — particularly at the start, or in environments that are unpredictable. Others get more out of group-based activities, where the point is partly the other people. We can support either, and most people move between the two as their confidence changes.
We do not push group settings on people who find them exhausting, and we do not assume that someone who is quiet wants to stay home. We ask.
Transport
Transport is a common sticking point. Depending on your plan and your circumstances, support workers may be able to drive you, travel with you on public transport, or meet you at the destination. Provider travel and transport are funded differently to support hours, so we will be explicit with you about what is claimable against your plan and what is not before it happens. You should never get a surprise on an invoice.
How this support is funded
Community access is generally funded from your Core Supports budget under Assistance with Social, Economic and Community Participation. Where the goal is specifically to build independence — travel training, or skills that mean you need less support in future — it may sit under the capacity-building category Increased Social and Community Participation.
Every plan is different. If you are not sure which budget a support sits under, bring your plan to the conversation and we will go through it with you line by line — or talk to your support coordinator or Local Area Coordinator before you commit to anything.
Support that is genuinely person-centred
Person-centred is a phrase every provider uses, so here is what we mean by it in this service specifically. You choose the activity. You choose whether the support worker stays close or hangs back. You can change your mind on the day — if you are not up to it, we do something smaller rather than pushing through. And we write down what you liked and what you did not, so the next worker who supports you is not starting from scratch.
We also take cultural safety seriously. If language, food, prayer times, modesty or family expectations shape how you want support delivered, tell us at the start and we will build it into the plan rather than treating it as an exception.
Talk to us about community participation
Tell us one thing you would do this month if getting there were not the problem.
Call 0401 776 804, email [email protected], or send the enquiry form below. We will ask what you need, explain honestly whether we are the right fit, and tell you what we can start and when. If we are not the right service for you, we will say so and point you to someone who is.
Motherly Health Care is a registered NDIS provider (registration number 4053350558).