- an integrated continuum of support -

Most of us aim for a fulfilling life where we are treated with dignity and respect. To live in a place we call home. A place where we belong and live with people we enjoy being with. People with a disability are no different in this need. The only difference for some is they need personal support to do everyday tasks. The Interface Accommodation Project responds to those needs in a supportive, personal and flexible way that encourages personal development and increased community integration and independence.

Traditional Supported Accommodation Responses

Most traditional responses to the accommodation and support needs of people who have a disability have been fragmented and limited in their success.

Consequently, supported accommodation services rarely provide a continuum through which an individual can progress to higher levels of success and dignity, leading to facilities becoming institutions of final destination rather than a step in the pathway to a life of choice.

The Interface Solution

Interface is an integrated continuum of supported accommodation models, operated under principles of maximising dignity, choice and personal independence using non-restrictive support techniques grounded in the principles and practices of Positive Behaviour Support.

The project incorporates a series of programmes that assist individuals to attain an improved quality of life. By utilising a broad range of accommodation and support options, individuals are able to identify which facilities and programmes are best suited to respond to their current and future needs and are able to move to other facilities within the continuum as their needs change.

Individually, each component is self-contained. Collectively, the components combine to form a continuum which allows and encourages individuals to progress to higher levels of independence compatible with their needs.

Click here to view a floor plan of the accommodation facility.

Target Group

• People aged between 18 and 65 who have an acquired brain injury.
• People with a disability who have complex support needs, and who would benefit from services provided by the Brain Injury Association of Queensland.

Priority is given to people with an acquired brain injury whose complex needs make it difficult or inappropriate for them to access other disability community services.

Service Description

Interface contains multiple independent facilities, each one tailored to a different level of accommodation support needs, with consideration given to different levels of behavioural support needs.

The components of interface include but are not limited to:

• Transitional assessment and programme unit;
• Brain injury behavioural response unit;
• Community shared residential houses;
• Community supported co-tenant units;
• Clustered self-contained independent living units;
• Self-contained independent living units;

Each of the above-listed options includes client-specific programmes designed in consultation with the individuals and major stakeholders. Individual programmes are reviewed constantly to allow free movement between the components of interface, as required, with consideration to:

• Dignity;
• Choice;
• Reduced dependency on stakeholders;
• Maximising independence;
• Minimising need for support;
• Improving community participation & integration;
• Achieving personal goals.

The effectiveness of programme delivery is enhanced by the ability to deliver specific programmes to a select group of individuals who share common needs and compatibilities. Each of the group facilities accommodates people with compatible skills and functioning levels, similar goals and common needs. An overview of Interface facilities, together with the potential target group and programme focus of each facility, is listed below.

1. Transitional Assessment and Programme Unit

Target population:

People who present as having complex support needs and who require supported accommodation but whose functioning level, personal goals and support requirements have not been determined.

Programme focus:

Short-term supported accommodation (3-12 months) for the purpose of:

• Assessing the individual’s functioning levels, capabilities, motivation;
• Determining current and future support requirements;
• Identifying additional service requirements e.g. technical aids, mental health services;
• Identifying significant stakeholders and family members who have a valid role in the individual’s future;
  

The service assists the individual to:

• Identify personal goals and develop strategies to achieve them;
• Identify barriers;
• Identify allies;
• Identify appropriate service providers and support networks;
• Negotiate support from major stakeholders and family members; and
• Identify and access appropriate resources and service provision.
  

At the completion of the transition programme it is expected that:

• The needs of the individuals have been appropriately assessed;
• Short and long term support requirements have been identified;
• Short and long term accommodation needs have been identified;
• Supportive stakeholders have been recruited;
• Potential sources for required funding been identified;
• Referrals to the required support services and service providers have been submitted;
• Preliminary training for future allies and support personnel has been facilitated;
• A comprehensive report, with recommendations and cost projections is available and;
• An appropriate exit process has been facilitated.

2. Community Shared Residential Houses

Target populations:

Interface includes a range of small shared residential facilities, each of which caters to specific target populations, including:

• People who have needs requiring 24-hour attendant support to sustain a dignified quality of life and who are assessed (at that time) to be unlikely, or who are unwilling to, seek a higher level of independence.
• People who exhibit complex behaviours that impact upon their potential to attain an inclusive and dignified quality of life and who have needs requiring 24-hour attendant support.
• People who currently have moderate support needs but who are willing to attain, and capable of achieving, a higher level of independence with reduced support.
• People who currently have moderate support needs and exhibit complex behaviours but who are willing to attain, and capable of achieving, a higher level of independence with reduced support.
• People who currently have moderate support needs but who are willing to attain, and capable of achieving, a higher level of independence with reduced support, but require sleepover shifts for reasons of safety.

Programme focus:

The emphasis for each facility focuses on the current needs of that facility’s target population. The shared residential houses aim to maximise inclusion, involvement and independence within the home and community, in accordance with each resident’s individual program plan.

For residents who exhibit complex behaviours there is also be a focus on stabilising and modifying behaviours that impact upon their safety and social acceptance and the safety of others.

3. Supported Co-tenant units

Target population:

People who currently have moderate support needs and who are willing to attain, and capable of achieving, a higher level of independence and quality of life within the community with reduced support, and do not required sleepover shifts.

Programme focus:

To work in unison with each individual as mentors, to maximise his or her level of independence. The main focus of the programme is on maximising community integration and independence through empowerment, skills development, co-tenant relationships and the establishment of formal and informal support networks.

This response is of particular value to people who choose not to live alone and/or people who seek to maximise their independence but are prevented from doing so for reasons of safety (critical health issues or vulnerability).

4. Clustered Self-contained Independent Living Units

Target population:

People who currently have moderate support needs, who may or may not exhibit complex and challenging behaviour, but who are willing to attain, and capable of achieving, a higher level of independence with reduced support.

Programme focus:

To work in unison with the individuals as mentors, to maximise their level of independence. The main focus of the programme is empowerment, skills development and the establishment of formal and informal support networks.

5. Self-contained Independent Living Units

Target population:

People who are capable of living independently within the community with minimal support

Programme focus:

To work in unison with the individual as mentors, to maintain and improve his or her level of independence and quality of life within the community, with minimal support. The main focus of the programme is to maximise community integration and independence through empowerment, skills development and the establishment of formal and informal support networks.

6. Brain Injury Behavioural Response Unit (To be developed)

A facility that provides 24 hours support and specialised Behavioural programmes that concentrate on maximising each resident’s level of independence and social integration. Each resident will enjoy a high level of dignity and independence within their unit. They will also have separate access to the common area, which will be utilised for group rehabilitation programmes, social activities and independent living programmes.

Target population:

People who currently have moderate support needs and who exhibit complex behaviours that have excluded them from access to other services, but who are willing to attain, and are able to achieve, a higher level of independence and integration within the community.

The unit will include people who are considered to be at risk of homelessness or of entering the criminal justice system, but will exclude people identified as presenting a serious risk to the health and well being of others, and people with a dual diagnosis who do not have access to the appropriate support that responds to that diagnosis.

Programme focus:

Concentrated, time limited (12-24 months), behavioural support and intervention programme, aimed at assisting the individual to recognise, monitor and adjust his or her behaviour in accordance with social norms, while supporting the individual to attain a higher lever of independence and integration within the community with minimal support.

A solution for every need

By combining the full range of available options, and allowing them to work together so that people who need the service can take advantage of the option that best suits them, moving from option to option as their needs and their goals change, Interface is able to assist each individual to achieve those goals.