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By Author: Avemaria Mental Health Disability Services
Total Articles: 5
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Designing Homes for People with Complex Support Needs
A home for a person with complex support needs will need a living environment that supports both their independence and their personal care needs. It may need to accommodate mobility equipment, allow support workers to provide assistance safely, support high-intensity personal care and give the person as much control over everyday life as possible. Under the NDIS, this can involve several different supports working together. Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), Supported Independent Living (SIL), assistive technology, home modifications and high-intensity daily personal activities each address different aspects of a participant’s needs. Understanding how they fit together is important when designing a home that works in everyday life.

Specialist Disability Accommodation, or SDA, is designed for eligible participants with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs. SDA refers to the physical home rather than the support delivered within it. Depending on the participant’s needs, SDA features may include wider doorways, accessible bathrooms, ...
... reinforced walls, ceiling hoist provisions, assistive technology and home automation. SDA design categories such as Fully Accessible, High Physical Support, Improved Liveability and Robust are intended to respond to different disability-related needs. SDA participants may also require other high-intensity supports such as complex bowel care, enteral feeding, catheter care, complex wound care, tracheostomy support or ventilator management. A home supporting these needs may require suitable space for equipment, safe storage for care supplies and enough room for trained support workers to assist the participant. The environment should support safe care without making the home feel unnecessarily like a clinic or hospital. Another NDIS support that needs to be accommodated in the homes of such participants is Supported Independent Living (SIL). SIL support focuses on the assistance a participant receives at home. This may include help with personal care, cooking, household tasks, medication routines or overnight support. For participants receiving SIL, the layout of the home can affect how comfortably and safely support is provided. Bathrooms and bedrooms may need enough space for assisted transfers, and shared living areas should still allow participants to enjoy privacy and independence.

At Ave Maria, we provide NDIS supports including Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), Supported Independent Living (SIL), high-intensity support and other home and living services personalised to individual needs. If you are looking for an experienced and registered NDIS service provider that understands complex support needs and accessible living, Ave Maria can help you explore suitable options and build a support arrangement around your goals, choices and daily routine. Reach out to us today!