Be More. Do Better. Our New Partnership with La Trobe University

Providing the best support for our Disability Support Services

Be more. Do better. We want to make sure the way we work is best practice, so we have engaged the experts for our Disability Support Services.

focus is working with the Living with Disability Research Centre at La Trobe University to undertake a 3 year research and training partnership, looking at the way we work and learning how we can provide the best support for our Disability Support Services.

We are joining a longitudinal study of the disability sector that has been going since 2009 and we are so proud to be partnering with 12 other organisations across Australia to participate in the research project and training program.

Our partnership with La Trobe includes training that will be co-designed with the experts in Active Support and Practice Leadership, based partly on the feedback from the study.

Annual benchmark reports of the study have confirmed that all partner organisations participating in the La Trobe project and training program have increased the quality of support delivered during their involvement. They significantly improve the way they work, and this has then improved the quality of life for the people they support.

The aim of the study is to learn more about how to embed Active Support and Practice Leadership in disability services which has been proven to improve service delivery and quality of life outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities.

So what is Active Support? It is an evidence based method that focuses on doing things with a person, not for them. It is designed to make sure that people who need support have the chance to be fully engaged, and actively participating in their own lives. Staff who practice good Active Support know how to provide just the right amount, at just the right time, and design their practice to build upon what a person can do for themselves, building on their strengths and developing their skills for greater independence.

More broadly, our involvement will contribute to to the overall knowledge about how to embed Active Support and fundamentally influence how people are supported within disability sector across Australia.

focus is committed to being agents of change. The people we support are at the centre of everything we do. Our mission is to support people with disabilities to live the life they want, and we will be using our partnership with La Trobe to achieve this.

Chat to us about how Focus Life, a leading provider of disability support services, is working hand-in-hand with La Trobe University to be more and do better in our commitment to fostering inclusive and person-centered support.

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