COURSE OVERVIEW:
Welcome to the Apply Effective Person-Centred Practices in Disability Support Settings course. This program has been designed to build your knowledge, skills, and professional judgement to deliver high-quality, respectful, and individualised support that places the person at the centre of all decisions, actions, and outcomes.
Person-centred disability support is grounded in respect for individual rights, dignity, autonomy, and choice. This course begins by introducing the core principles of person-centred practice, exploring how support workers uphold participant rights while working within clear professional boundaries. It also provides an overview of safety, duty of care, and safeguarding responsibilities, recognising the balance between empowerment and protection that underpins ethical disability support practice.
Providing personal care is a fundamental aspect of disability support and must be delivered with dignity, privacy, and cultural sensitivity. This section explores respectful approaches to personal care, the importance of consent, and safe hygiene practices. It also addresses safeguarding risks associated with personal care and the responsibilities of workers to recognise, report, and respond to concerns appropriately.
Supporting nutrition and mealtime routines is central to health and wellbeing. This section examines basic nutritional principles, dietary requirements, food safety, and hygiene practices. It also explores how support workers promote choice and routine during meals while managing risks such as choking and dietary restrictions in a safe and respectful manner.
Medication support carries significant responsibility and requires strict adherence to role boundaries. This section outlines the limits of medication assistance, authorisation requirements, safe storage and administration practices, accurate documentation, and the importance of reporting errors, incidents, or concerns promptly to ensure participant safety.
Mobility support is essential to maintaining independence and preventing injury. This section explores how to understand individual mobility needs, apply safe manual handling principles, and correctly use mobility aids and equipment. It also addresses strategies for identifying and managing mobility-related risks for both participants and workers.
Supporting physical exercise and therapy programs requires close collaboration with allied health professionals. This section examines the support worker’s role in following therapy instructions, facilitating safe participation in exercise activities, monitoring participant responses, and escalating concerns when outcomes or safety issues arise.
Promoting independence is a core element of person-centred practice. This section focuses on encouraging skill development and autonomy while balancing support needs. It also explores how to recognise changes in capacity, respond appropriately, and use escalation pathways to ensure participants receive timely and appropriate support adjustments.
Emotional and social support are vital to quality of life. This section explores how to understand emotional needs, build trust and rapport, and respond ethically to distress while maintaining professional boundaries. It reinforces the importance of respectful, supportive interactions that promote emotional wellbeing without creating dependency.
Community access and participation enable inclusion and social connection. This section examines how to plan and support safe community activities, identify and manage risks, and respond appropriately to incidents that may occur outside the home or service environment.
Monitoring health, wellbeing, and safety is an ongoing responsibility. This section focuses on observing physical and emotional indicators, recognising changes or warning signs, recording observations accurately, and following escalation and emergency response procedures to protect participant wellbeing.
Behaviour support requires an understanding that behaviour is a form of communication. This section explores the use of approved emotional regulation and behaviour support strategies, maintaining dignity and safety, and fulfilling reporting obligations when behavioural incidents or concerns occur.
Effective communication underpins participant rights and autonomy. This section examines how to understand individual communication needs, apply communication support strategies, uphold consent and confidentiality requirements, and actively support participant voice and choice in everyday interactions.
Safe transport and travel support are critical for community participation. This section outlines planning for safe travel, vehicle safety and restraint requirements, risk management during transport, and the reporting of transport-related incidents or concerns.
Accurate documentation is essential to safe, consistent, and accountable support. This section explores the purpose of documentation, daily progress recording, incident and safeguarding reports, and the importance of maintaining confidentiality and information security.
Adapting support within approved plans requires professional judgement. This section examines how to respond to individualised needs while remaining within role boundaries, recognising limitations, and using escalation pathways when changes or additional supports are required.
Finally, the course concludes with a focus on monitoring and continuous improvement. This section explores how support workers evaluate the effectiveness of their practice, reflect on outcomes against participant goals, identify improvement opportunities, and contribute to ongoing quality improvement in disability support services.
By the end of this course, you will be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and ethical understanding required to implement person-centred practices that respect participant choice, promote independence, and ensure safe, high-quality disability support.
Each section is complemented with examples to illustrate the concepts and techniques discussed.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of this course, you will be able to understand the following topics:
1. Introduction to Person-Centred Disability Support
- Principles of person-centred practice
- Rights, dignity, and participant choice
- Roles, responsibilities, and professional boundaries
- Safety, duty of care, and safeguarding overview
2. Personal Care with Dignity, Privacy, and Safety
- Respectful and dignified personal care practices
- Privacy, consent, and cultural sensitivity
- Safe personal care techniques and hygiene
- Safeguarding risks and reporting obligations
3. Meal Preparation and Nutrition Support
- Understanding nutrition and dietary requirements
- Food safety, hygiene, and preparation practices
- Supporting choice, preferences, and routines
- Managing mealtime risks and choking hazards
4. Medication Support and Role Responsibilities
- Understanding medication roles and limitations
- Following authorisation and procedures
- Safe assistance, storage, and documentation
- Reporting errors, incidents, and concerns
5. Mobility and Safe Movement Support
- Understanding individual mobility needs
- Safe manual handling principles
- Use of mobility aids and equipment
- Preventing injury and managing mobility risks
7. Supporting Physical Exercise and Therapy Programs
- Understanding scope of role in exercise and therapy support
- Following allied health and therapy instructions
- Supporting safe participation in exercise activities
- Monitoring responses and escalating concerns
7. Promoting Independence and Escalation
- Encouraging independence and skill development
- Balancing support with participant autonomy
- Recognising changes in ability or capacity
- Escalation pathways and reporting requirements
8. Emotional and Social Support Practice
- Understanding emotional and social support needs
- Building trust and rapport appropriately
- Maintaining professional boundaries
- Ethical responses to emotional distress
9. Community Access and Participation
- Promoting inclusion and participation
- Planning and preparing for community access
- Managing safety and identified risks
- Responding to incidents in the community
10. Monitoring Health, Wellbeing, and Safety
- Observing health and wellbeing indicators
- Recognising changes and warning signs
- Accurate recording of observations
- Escalation and emergency response procedures
11. Behaviour and Emotional Regulation Support
- Understanding behaviour as communication
- Using approved regulation strategies
- Maintaining safety and dignity
- Reporting behavioural incidents and concerns
12. Communication and Participant Rights
- Understanding individual communication needs
- Using communication support strategies
- Consent and confidentiality requirements
- Supporting participant voice and choice
13. Safe Transport and Travel Support
- Planning safe transport and travel
- Vehicle safety and restraint requirements
- Managing travel-related risks
- Reporting transport incidents
14. Documentation and Record Keeping
- Purpose and importance of documentation
- Daily progress and support recording
- Incident, risk, and safeguarding reports
- Confidentiality and information security
15. Adapting Support Within Role Boundaries
- Understanding individualised support needs
- Adapting support within approved plans
- Recognising role boundaries and limitations
- Using escalation pathways appropriately
16. Monitoring, Evaluating Practice, and Continuous Improvement
- Monitoring support effectiveness and outcomes
- Reviewing practices against participant goals
- Identifying opportunities for improvement
- Contributing to continuous quality improvement
COURSE DURATION:
The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.
COURSE DELIVERY:
Purchase and download course content.
ASSESSMENT:
A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.
CERTIFICATION:
Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.