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Literature Review
[Name of the Writer]
[Name of the Institution]
National Disability Insurance Scheme
Introduction
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) assists individuals with a disability to have choices of their own in order to lead meaningful lives by establishing a network of person-centered support. People with psychological disability can achieve significant positive benefits through potential aspects of the NDIS. It is one of the most important reform in the facet of disability services in Australia to increase funding for disability services. The basic purpose of this disability scheme is to design particular aspects in order to deliver effective care for disable persons in Australia (Mansell & Beadle‐Brown, 2004). It is notable to mention that the NDIS is constructed on an actuarial insurance model. The NDIS provides no-fault insurance cover for Australian who are born with or acquire any disability including psychological, cognitive, or physical. It is noteworthy to mention that the Australian government provides support and bear all the expense of disability-related care under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. However, people often argue about the efficiency of NDIS that it is built around the needs of the service system instead of catering to the needs of eligible individuals. Here, the focus is to determine the effectiveness of the NDIS in the Australian community.
Literature Review
It is notable to mention that the literature review surveys scholarly articles, books, journals, and other sources to provide a critical evaluation of these works in order to discuss essential paradigms of any specific issue or theory. A literature review provides a foundation of knowledge on any specific issue that helps in determining the significance of any topic. It also helps in identifying inconstancies in previous researches to provide context for new research. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the work of various authors on the National Disability Insurance Scheme to reveal gaps in this scheme. Evaluating these sources will provide potential solutions to ensure the best outcomes for people with various disabilities.
John Walsh and Sarah Johnson made extensive research on the National Disability Insurance Scheme to document the chronology of the actuarial developments leading up to the NDIS. The Australian government increased the Medicare levy in order to increase the funding for disabled persons. Walsh and Johnson illustrate that the NDIS is based on a very well tested model in accordance with the work of Sir Owen Woodhouse in 1967. According to these authors, the NDIS resemble the principles of Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) of New Zealand. With the passage of time, the Australian government introduced a new scheme in 1974 to cover the broader disability as well as injury. Walsh and Johnson emphasize the failure of the wood-house scheme following the change of government in 1975. It is important to mention that reforms in the disability scheme were based on Woodhouse's principles. Walsh and Johnson demonstrate that later reforms in disability scheme include real compensation, comprehensive entitlement, community responsibility, and administrative efficiency, which were basic principles of Wood-house scheme. It is noteworthy to mention that the development of NDIS concepts determines the deep history of insurance for disabled persons in the Australian community (Walsh & Johnson, 2013).
Theresa Williams and Geoffrey Smith demonstrate the significance of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in their article to provide a better understanding of the importance of this scheme for people. According to Williams and Smith, national disability long term care and support scheme lacked some important values that were crucial for providing effective health care services to disabled persons. Due to certain ambiguities in that scheme, the government introduces the NDIS in order to provide people with greater choice and control over disability care services in a certain community. All the Australian under the age of 65 are eligible for the NDIS if they are born or acquire a permanent disability which reduces their functional capabilities to perform certain routine tasks (Williams and Smith, 2014). According to Williams and Smith, the NDIS often work with each individual once eligibility of that individual is determined. It helps each participant with an individual plan based on his/her specific aspirations and goals. Williams and Smith emphasize on the significance of NDIS due to its person-centered approach. They demonstrate the working of the NDIS to provide a better insight into its effectiveness. It is notable to mention that the individual plan made through the NDIS specifies the amount of funding and the supports to be approach in order to make it a success for a specific individual. Williams and Smith illustrate that a disabled person can easily receive the amount of care from NDIS or he/she can manage these funds through an approved third party. It is notable to mention that the Commonwealth Government funded the Mental Health Council of Australia in order to enhance its capabilities to ensure the effectiveness of the services. Williams and Smith illustrate the importance of the NDIS due to its promising start, but they highlight certain challenges faced in terms of mental health. Williams and Smith suggest that capacity building initiatives for mental health are compulsory in order to improve the overall scheme. The NDIS needs to develop the approach of ‘learning by doing’ in order to trail innovative solutions regarding mental health cases.
Morrie O’Connor made broad research in order to determine the efficiency of the NDIS for people with mild intellectual disability. The NDIS is a radical restructuring of disability support in Australia for those disables who experience a substantial functional reduction in self-management, learning, social interaction, mobility, self-care, and communication. O’Connor highlights certain drawbacks in the NDIS program that can undermine its integrity. The major concern in the functioning and operation of this scheme is the degree of heterogeneity in the Australian population who are suffering from various disabilities. O'Connor specifically focuses on mild intellectual disability and states that the NDIS is difficult to operationalize due to the significant difference in the situations of people. The environment in which intellectually disabled persons have grown up, their socio-economic standing, and level of intellectual disability distinguish each individual. Potential problematic area for intellectually disabled persons is their limited knowledge about the eligibility criteria and services of NDIS (O’Connor, 2014). A handful of people are aware of the services of NDIS, while the majority of intellectually disabled persons are not aware of the protocols of receiving the facilities of NDIS. It is notable to mention that individuals with intellectual disabilities are often socially marginalized, hence they are unable to receive potential information about the NDIS. O’Connor emphasizes on the invisibility of the NDIS as mainstream and specialist services for an intellectually disabled person. It is important to mention that the efficiency of the NDIS is linked with the identifications of the disabled person and their satisfaction. However, incompetence of mainstream and specialists services make it hard to identify intellectual disability in the Australian community. People with intellectual disabilities often adopt fairly passive ways of communicating as they do not have physical makers of their disability (Reddihough et al., 2016). Mainstream and specialist services need to understand the fact that intellectually disabled persons often misrepresent their abilities and understanding. O’Connor emphasizes that mainstream and specialist services should be competent enough to determine such responses from intellectually disabled persons.
Greg Marston, Sally Cowling, and Shelley Bielefeld explore contemporary tensions and contradictions in Australian social policies such as the NDOS. “Every Australian Counts” campaign originates the National Disability Insurance Scheme in order to enhance the working capabilities of various organizations for effective care services for disabled persons. Marston, Cowling, and Bielefeld have warned that transferring "responsibility for choosing services to the individual" is crucial for the deliverance of services. This statement carries the risk that the market will not provide essential services to a disabled person, which can undermine the integrity of the whole scheme. Marston, Cowling, and Bielefeld illustrate that individuals who are advantaged by English literacy, education, family supports, and financial resources are more likely to get benefits from the NDIS. It is a well-known fact that the market is under no obligation in order to fulfil the needs of an individual unless they are getting an economical advantage. It is notable to mention that administrative errors can occur in the income management for disabled persons through the NDIS which leaves welfare receivers unfairly impoverished (Carey et al., 2017). Marston, Cowling, and Bielefeld suggest that a ‘bottom-up’ policy in association with the NDIS is critically important as it helps in identifying problems and possible solutions. The material benefits of income support are crucially affected as the administrative burdens are increasing with the increment in the number of a disabled person for the NDIS funding (Marston, Cowling, and Bielefeld, 2016). It is worthy to consider the role of social workers who dealt with individuals eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Social workers face the challenge in terms of disability service system such as to demonstrate the added values and unique contribution of the profession. There is an immense need for social workers to reflect its contribution to stake its claim in association with the NDIS.
It is notable to mention that the NDIS often fund eligible candidates with therapeutic support, transportation to enable participation in economic, social, and community activities, help with household tasks, and home construction and modification design (Stephens et al., 2014). The NDIS support helps eligible persons to increase their independence, pursue their objectives and aspirations, develop their capacity to engage themselves in social interactions and increase economic participation (Bigby, 2013). The NDIS is developed to increase the funding for people with certain disabilities such as physical, mental, or psychological. It is noteworthy to mention that eligible persons receive special from the NDIS which ease their living standards. Majority of people provided positive feedback about the services of NDIS as they experience a significant reduction in the waiting lists for services. The NDIS is offering greater opportunities for choice through its potential to self-manage funds (Warr et al., 2017). It is important to mention that the recipients of NDIS can either manage to fund by their own, while others prefer to take help from a third party, usually nominated by the NDIS for sourcing and coordinating their services. The major concerns of political officials of Australia in this paradigm are access to choice and control (Smith-Merry et al., 2018). The NDIS was developed with the idea of enhancing choice and control of an eligible individual to use funding according to their best interest. The success of these objects is collectively positive as eligible individuals are getting more independence in choosing services for themselves. Choice and control are central to the NDIS so people can be in the driver's seat of their own lives. It is important to mention that people need aspiration and vision for what is possible, which is only possible through encouragement and support.
NDIS is efficient among all the insurance schemes for disabled persons in Australia as it provides the opportunity to make decisions regarding the delivery of their care and design of their care plan. Stakeholders reported difficulties of individuals due to the overwhelming complexity of the NDIS process. People with certain psychological disabilities are often unable to navigate the complexity of this whole process, which is highly stressful and at times traumatizing for them (Thill, 2015). There is an immense need for advocacy or support in order to go through the application process without stress. In the Australian community, there is a lack of specific support for aboriginal people due to the insufficient aboriginal workers in this paradigm who can provide the pre-planning support to a disabled person in order to engage in the NDIS. It is also reported that the cost of acquiring reports is often too much for disabled persons (Howard et al., 2016). Eligible individuals often need to pay for specialist assessment and private consultations in order to collect acceptable evidence. It is notable to mention that some people are unable to apply for the NDIS due to their fear of this scheme. Lack of effective communication with these individuals often promotes anxiety and fear of losing what they already have (Andrews, Henderson, & Hall, 2001). There is a number of stories about the inefficiency of NDIS services such as delay time in getting through the 1800 NDIS helpline, which is undermining its integrity.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the National Disability Insurance Scheme is effective in providing funding and control of designing one’s own care plan. Choice and control are the significant aspects of the NDIS in order to promote the vision and aspiration of disabled persons. It is essential to mention that the disabled person is getting more independence in choosing services for themselves with the help of the NDIS. However, lack of advocacy and support is undermining the integrity of this scheme as people are unable to understand the complex application process. The government needs to diminish the number of individuals for the NDIS through proper identification programs in order to provide effective care services for a disabled person who has legitimate claims for state assistance.
References
Andrews, G., Henderson, S., & Hall, W. (2001). Prevalence, comorbidity, disability and service utilisation: overview of the Australian National Mental Health Survey. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 178(2), 145-153.
Bigby, C. (2013). A National Disability Insurance Scheme—challenges for social work.
Carey, G., Malbon, E., Reeders, D., Kavanagh, A., & Llewellyn, G. (2017). Redressing or entrenching social and health inequities through policy implementation? Examining personalised budgets through the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme. International journal for equity in health, 16(1), 192.
Howard, A., Blakemore, T., Johnston, L., Taylor, D., & Dibley, R. (2015). ‘I’m not really sure but I hope it’s better’: early thoughts of parents and carers in a regional trial site for the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme. Disability & Society, 30(9), 1365-1381.
Mansell, J., & Beadle‐Brown, J. (2004). Person‐centred planning or person‐centred action? Policy and practice in intellectual disability services. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 17(1), 1-9.
Marston, G., Cowling, S., & Bielefeld, S. (2016). Tensions and contradictions in Australian social policy reform: compulsory income management and the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 51(4), 399-417.
O’Connor, M. (2014). The National Disability Insurance Scheme and people with mild intellectual disability: Potential pitfalls for consideration. Research and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 1(1), 17-23.
Reddihough, D. S., Meehan, E., Stott, N. S., Delacy, M. J., & Australian Cerebral Palsy Register Group. (2016). The National Disability Insurance Scheme: a time for real change in Australia. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 58, 66-70.
Smith-Merry, J., Hancock, N., Bresnan, A., Yen, I., Gilroy, J., & Llewellyn, G. (2018). Mind the Gap: the national disability insurance scheme and psychosocial disability. Final Report: Stakeholder identified gaps and solutions. The University of Sydney, Sydney.
Stephens, A., Cullen, J., Massey, L., & Bohanna, I. (2014). Will the National Disability Insurance Scheme improve the lives of those most in need? Effective service delivery for people with acquired brain injury and other disabilities in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 73(2), 260-270.
Thill, C. (2015). Listening for policy change: how the voices of disabled people shaped Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme. Disability & Society, 30(1), 15-28.
Walsh, J., & Johnson, S. (2013). Development and Principles of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Australian Economic Review, 46(3), 327-337.
Wark, S. (2015). Ageing, end-of-life care, and the National Disability Insurance Scheme: what can we learn from overseas?. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 40(1), 92-98.
Warr, D., Dickinson, H., Olney, S., Hargrave, J., Karanikolas, A., Kasidis, V., ... & Wilcox, M. (2017). Choice, Control and the NDIS. Service users’ perspectives on having choice and control in the new National Disability Insurance Scheme. Melbourne: Social Equity Institute, University of Melbourne.
Williams, T. M., & Smith, G. P. (2014). Can the National Disability Insurance Scheme work for mental health?. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 48(5), 391-394.
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