Your stories
People, interests and everyday support at Vana Care
Read stories shared by Luke, Aled, Melissa and Renee about their lives and the support around them.
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NDIS questions, everyday ideas and stories from our community. Make yourself comfortable. Start with what you need.
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A question about support, an idea for the weekend or a story to settle into.
74 articles to explore
Your stories
Your stories
Luke’s story: getting back to fishing
Luke shares how regular support helped him return to exercise, fishing and time on the water after an acquired brain injury.
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Your stories
Aled’s story: from receiving support to supporting others
Aled talks about the support he received, returning to activities he enjoys and becoming a support worker himself.
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Your stories
Melissa’s story: returning to family life after a brain injury
Melissa’s story of returning home after a cardiac arrest and brain injury, with support from her family, partner and care team.
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Your stories
Renee’s family and her work to raise awareness of childhood dementia
Renee Staska shares her family’s experience of childhood dementia, her advocacy and what support for Hudson has meant to them.
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Understanding the NDIS
Understanding the NDIS
Thinking about changing support providers? Plan the handover.
A practical guide to notice, a new start date, consent and the information that helps a provider change go more smoothly.
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Understanding the NDIS
A free NDIS price tool for clearer quoting conversations
How providers, participants and referrers can use the public tool to explore selected support items and quantities.
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Understanding the NDIS
Working out what NDIS support could cost
How hours, days, support items and extra charges affect an estimate, and where to check the numbers before agreeing.
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Understanding the NDIS
Checking an NDIS quote before you agree
A practical checklist for understanding a quote’s hours, rates, extras and cancellation terms before support starts.
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Understanding the NDIS
Medication support: what to ask about your plan and records
Questions about agreed medication assistance, current instructions, worker training and what happens when there is a concern.
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Understanding the NDIS
Respite in Adelaide: planning time apart from usual care
How to discuss respite needs, check current NDIS short-term accommodation rules and ask about support and costs.
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Understanding the NDIS
Looking for disability support in South Australia
How to check service coverage, travel and practical support arrangements when you’re comparing providers in South Australia.
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Understanding the NDIS
Finding disability services in Adelaide
A starting point for working out which kind of disability service you need and how to compare local options.
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Understanding the NDIS
Assistive technology in the NDIS: questions before you buy
How to think about equipment, professional advice, trials and funding before purchasing assistive technology.
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Understanding the NDIS
Understanding the budgets in your NDIS plan
A plain English introduction to Core, Capacity Building, Capital and Recurring Supports, and what to check before spending.
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Understanding the NDIS
What to expect from an independent living skills assessment
How an assessment can describe your daily support needs, what you can ask beforehand and how to use the recommendations.
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Understanding the NDIS
NDIS goal examples you can make your own
Eight examples to help you describe what matters to you, without turning your plan into a list of promises or tests.
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Understanding the NDIS
How to find an NDIS provider that suits your support needs
Where to start looking, what registration tells you and the questions to ask before choosing an NDIS provider.
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Understanding the NDIS
Eight everyday examples of person-centred support
What being listened to can look like in daily support, including communication, privacy, choices and feedback.
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Understanding the NDIS
NDIS employment support: working out the help you need
How to discuss disability-related employment assistance and distinguish it from employer and employment-service responsibilities.
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Understanding the NDIS
Positive Behaviour Support: questions for participants and families
What to ask about behaviour support, the practitioner’s role, your involvement and any restrictive practices.
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Understanding the NDIS
NDIS support worker rates: understanding the amount on a quote
Provider price limits, worker pay and weekly budget examples, with questions to ask about rates and extra charges.
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Understanding the NDIS
An individual support plan example you can discuss with your provider
See how a personal goal can become agreed daily support, with a fictional example covering preferences, tasks and review.
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Understanding the NDIS
What disability service standards mean during your support
Questions about rights, privacy, safe support and feedback that you can ask a disability provider.
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Understanding the NDIS
Supported decision making: help to make your own choices
Practical ways to understand options and communicate a decision while keeping your own wishes and preferences central.
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Understanding the NDIS
Self-managed and plan-managed NDIS funding: the practical differences
Compare who pays invoices, keeps records and helps manage your budget, while checking the rules for your own supports.
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Understanding the NDIS
A strengths-based approach: starting with what works for you
How support planning can recognise your interests and abilities while still taking the assistance you need seriously.
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Understanding the NDIS
NDIS Capacity Building: turning a goal into useful support
How to discuss skill-building supports, check the funding in your plan and agree what progress means to you.
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Understanding the NDIS
Raising a concern about NDIS support
How to choose the right complaint route, write down what happened and get help with a concern about support or an NDIA decision.
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Understanding the NDIS
Risk assessments in disability support: being part of the conversation
What a support risk assessment is for, how your preferences should be included and what to ask about agreed safety arrangements.
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Understanding the NDIS
NDIS mental health support and everyday life
How disability-related support differs from mental health treatment, and questions to ask about the help you need.
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Understanding the NDIS
NDIS short-term accommodation: what to check before booking
Current questions about short-term accommodation, respite terminology, funding and the expenses a plan does not cover.
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Understanding the NDIS
Reading your NDIS service agreement before you decide
What to check in a service agreement, including support, costs, changes and cancellations, and the questions you can ask before agreeing.
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Understanding the NDIS
Preparing for an NDIS plan conversation or review
How to describe current support needs, gather relevant information and distinguish a plan change from a decision review.
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Understanding the NDIS
Choosing disability support in Adelaide: questions worth asking
A local guide to comparing providers by the support you need, available workers, clear costs and how comfortable you feel asking questions.
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Understanding the NDIS
Recording Vana Care as a my provider with the NDIS
Vana Care’s details and the current ways to approve a provider relationship through the NDIA.
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Out in the community
Out in the community
Seven ideas for getting out in Adelaide
Activity ideas to help you start a conversation about community access, with practical checks for support, access and everyday costs.
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Out in the community
Considering a disability day program in Adelaide
Questions about activities, group support, access and costs to help you decide whether a day program suits you.
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Out in the community
Planning transport that meets your access and support needs
What to check about a trip, the assistance you need and the difference between transport charges and worker time.
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Out in the community
NDIS day programs: checking the support, choice and costs
What to ask before joining a day program, including shared worker arrangements, activities and the funding available.
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Out in the community
Social devaluation: recognising it in everyday life
What social devaluation means, how it can affect people with disability and practical ways to respond.
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Out in the community
Planning community participation around your goals
A practical way to turn something you want to do into an agreed support arrangement, with questions about choice, costs and access.
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Out in the community
Community participation and your NDIS plan
How to discuss the assistance you need to take part in your community, and the costs to check before booking.
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Out in the community
Community access support: help to get out and take part
What community access support can involve, how to plan an outing and what to ask about workers, travel and costs.
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Out in the community
What personalised support should look like in your week
Practical questions to help you check whether disability support reflects your preferences, routines and the help you need.
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Out in the community
Finding activities you enjoy in South Australia
Ideas for spending more time doing activities you enjoy, with practical questions about access, support and cost.
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Out in the community
Having a say in your community support
How everyday support can leave room for your choices, relationships and involvement in the community.
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Out in the community
Finding a support worker you feel comfortable with
What Vana Care considers when proposing a support worker, what you can ask and what to do if a match needs reviewing.
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Out in the community
Finding social activities where you feel comfortable
How to choose a social activity, talk about communication needs and decide what support you want alongside you.
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Support at home
Support at home
Before Adelaide’s next hot day: talk through your support plan
A calm, practical way to prepare for heat, changed visits or a power outage with the people you choose to involve.
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Support at home
Your first support visit: a few things to talk about
Getting ready to meet a support worker, with space for your preferences, questions and the people you want involved.
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Support at home
Finding in-home disability support in Adelaide
Questions to ask when looking for support at home in Adelaide, including worker fit, hours, costs and changes.
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Support at home
Meal preparation support: planning food you enjoy
How to discuss assistance with cooking and meals, with the difference between support costs and groceries explained.
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Support at home
Community nursing and disability support: understanding the roles
How nursing at home differs from general support work, and what to check about professional care and funding.
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Support at home
Planning support at home that works for you
How to agree on routines, privacy, assistance and communication when a disability support worker comes to your home.
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Support at home
What in-home support can help with in Adelaide
A guide to daily support at home, from personal care and meals to deciding what you want a worker to help with.
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Support at home
How families can support someone’s choices at home
Practical ways families can help arrange in-home support while keeping the person’s preferences and consent central.
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Supported living (SIL)
Supported living (SIL)
Finding wheelchair-accessible accommodation in Adelaide
Where to begin searching and the measurements, room features and booking terms to confirm before committing.
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Supported living (SIL)
What does SIL mean in an NDIS plan?
The meaning of SIL and how it differs from a house, SDA and occasional support at home.
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Supported living (SIL)
An everyday living skills checklist to use your way
Prompts for talking about daily tasks, the things you want to do yourself and where support would help.
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Supported living (SIL)
What is Supported Independent Living?
An introduction to SIL, the daily assistance it funds and the separate decisions about housing and living costs.
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Supported living (SIL)
Exploring home and living options in Adelaide
A guide to separating where you live, who supports you and how each part of a living arrangement is paid for.
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Supported living (SIL)
Specialist Disability Accommodation in Adelaide
What SDA is for, the design categories and how to check a proposed home alongside your separate support needs.
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Supported living (SIL)
SDA and SIL: the difference between housing and support
How to separate specially designed housing from the workers who assist you at home, including the costs and agreements to check.
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Supported living (SIL)
Choosing a SIL provider in Adelaide: options and questions
Official service links for Adelaide SIL enquiries, with the difference between housing listings and support providers explained.
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Supported living (SIL)
Considering SIL in Adelaide: a practical checklist
What to discuss about a daily support roster, costs, housing and the workers available before agreeing to SIL support.
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Supported living (SIL)
Looking for disability accommodation in Adelaide
Questions to help you compare a home’s access features, tenancy costs and the support you would need there.
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Supported living (SIL)
Talking with Vana Care about support at home and SIL
How to prepare for a conversation about home support, the assistance you need and whether SIL is the relevant option.
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Working in support
Working in support
Qualifications and checks for support work in South Australia
What to ask about training, screening and role requirements before starting work as a disability support worker.
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Working in support
Considering a career in disability support?
An introduction to support work, the questions to ask an employer and the preparation you may need for the role.
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Working in support
Preparing for a disability support worker interview
Questions to practise with honest examples from your own experience, including choice, boundaries, safety and communication.
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Working in support
Eight support worker skills that matter during a visit
Practical skills for listening, respecting choices, following support plans and responding to concerns in disability support work.
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