Understanding NDIS Goals and the Guide to Set Them

After you apply for the NDIS funding, it’s time for the planning meeting with a National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) planner. It can be either on the phone or face-to-face. These meetings help the NDIA to understand your short and long-term goals and provide necessary funding for them. With this funding, you can access Disability Support in Werribee or in neighbourhood areas and attain your goals. However, to acquire the best National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) plan, you must prepare yourself with a set of short and long-term goals. In this article, we shall help you set your goals so that you can get the support that complements your life.

What are NDIS Goals?

Goals are the list of things you wish to achieve with the help of NDIS in Werribee or elsewhere. These goals can be short-term or long-term, simple or complex, big or small. These can be anything that helps you to be as independent as possible.

For Example-

• Pursuing a new skill
• Starting a new job
• Studying now or in future to be more independent
• Connecting  more with the community and doing social activities
• Building relationships with friends and family
• Improving Mobility
• Working on overall health

Short-Term Goals

The short-term goals are those you can work towards in 12 months or less. You may require NDIS funding to avail of disability support in Werribee or your neighbourhood so that you can pursue your journey towards meeting these goals. These may include-

• Using public transport independently
• Actively participate in the community activities
• Perform daily personal activities as independently as possible

Medium or Long Term Goals

The medium-term goals are those that may take 2 to 3 years to achieve, while the long-term goals are those that require more than 3 years. A few examples of medium and long-term goals are-

• Increase physical activity for overall health and well-being
• Pursue a new course
• Find a new job that excites you

Why are Goals Important for an NDIS Participant

Setting the goals is crucial for NDIA participants. Apart from being the benchmark for developing the NDIS plan, the goals are also essential for many other reasons. These are-

• Helping to understand the strengths of the participant and the ways to use them positively
• Analysing the weaknesses and knowing how to improve these
• Motivating to improve independence
• Curating a responsible strategy to help the participant
• Goals set a direction for family, friends and disability support workers in Werribee to help the participant
• Goals help determine if there has been a progress

Guide to Set Goals for Your NDIS Funding

The first criterion of setting goals is understanding what you want to achieve and which disability support in Werribee can help you with the same. Here is how you can set goals and take the first steps towards achieving them-

Evaluate Personal Needs

From the time you get up in the morning to going to bed at night, what are the tasks that require assistance? Do you need somebody to help you get up, shower or carry on your daily chores? Or can you manage your grooming and will need someone to assist you in cooking food or gardening? You may also appreciate somebody helping you travel. Once you analyse your condition, it can help to set short-term goals that will make you more confident and independent. A few examples of short-term goals to assist you in your personal life are-

• Pursue a new life skill like cooking, gardening etc
• Do more exercise and improve your health
• Increase mobility around the house
• Learning a new skill

Consider the Overall Well-being

The participants can then consider their medical assistance and set realistic goals to achieve a better health routine. This can include both physical and mental well-being. Few goals that shall help to achieve better health can be-

• Be able to commute independently and safe
• Attending community activities and building meaningful connections
• Increasing the social circle and making new friends

Plan for the Future

You can now think of what you want for yourself in the next 5 years. It may be getting a driver’s licence or moving out of the house. These can be the long-term goals that will help you achieve independence and confidence. Few more long-term goals can be-

• Handle the finances independently
• Pursue higher education, i.e., attending your favourite university
• Finding a job that excites you

Access the Goals

Once you set the goals, it’s time to access them. Here are a few steps to access your goals-

• Think about the outcomes rather than ways to achieve them, i.e., to be able to communicate effectively, rather than have a speech therapy
• Infuse flexibility in your goals, i.e., Imbibe an essential skill rather than learn cooking.
• Specify the areas where you want improvement related to your disability
• Build goals that can help you be more independent
• Set realistic goals

Points to Remember

Though the goals of participants are crucial to determining the NDIS funding and support, it’s not necessary that NDIA funds all the listed goals. Therefore while noting down your goals, remember the following points-

• Increasing the number of goals doesn’t ensure that you may receive funding for all
• Long term goals may also not fetch higher NDIS funding
• NDIA may not fund every goal on the list
• The participant may require an explicit fund or support, but NDIA doesn’t have an obligation to fund it

What Next?

Once you have formulated your goals and presented them in front of the NDIA planner, they shall inform you of the next steps. For some participants, the funding proceedings for NDIS in Werribee commence after the first meeting, while others may require another round to finalise it. Later they shall also inform the participants about the waiting period and produce the physical copy on approval. Then you can decide how to manage your NDIS plan.

Conclusion

NDIS goals are vital for the plan. You can take support from your carer or other family members to list the goals.However, when the NDIA planner writes your goals, they use the exact words said by the participants and they can also help the participants to use the right words. Hence, always prepare for the planning meeting by analysing your goals and listing how to achieve them. Always remember that NDIA is focused on helping you achieve your goals; therefore, set realistic goals and take little steps towards attaining them.