Needs assessment service co-ordination
Throughout this booklet we will use the term “NASC” which stands for “Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination”.
Needs Assessment is a process that helps to identify and document your strengths, abilities, needs, and goals while you have an illness or disability. Service Co-ordination links supports and services to the needs that are identified in your Needs Assessment.
Confidentiality is an important part of the Needs Assessment process. This means that no one can discuss the personal details about you or your family without your permission.
Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination (NASC) organisations are the gateway to disability and health support services. The Needs Assessment helps to determine what the person’s abilities, resources, goals and needs are and then helps to identify which of these is the most important.
You can request a Needs Assessment yourself, or this may be done for you by your GP, social worker, family carer, or a community organisation. An assessment can take place wherever you choose, such as in your own home, workplace, or at Needs Assessment Service Co-ordination (NASC) offices.
The assessor, also known as assessment facilitator, will talk to you about your situation. A report will be put together that identifies your needs such as:
- what support do I need right now to look after myself, to sleep safely at night, to be in the community, to be socially active, to keep in touch with my friends and family?
- do I need a place to live?
- do I need a break from my family?
- do I need something to do during the day?
Having a Needs Assessment does not guarantee you will be provided with services for all of your needs. It helps to emphasize the needs most important to you within available resources and funding limitations. These resources and funding limitations are usually decided by the government of the day and may change over time.
On initial contact with a NASC service, you will be told what the response timeframes will be to the several steps required in order to meet your needs.
This means the time period within which they will:
- respond to your request for a Needs Assessment
- facilitate the Needs Assessment
- put services in place
For example, “It is the policy of some services that initial contact will be made within 2 working days of receipt of the referral and which we do by writing a letter that says we will consider their request at our referral meeting on (date).”
If you are not given this information please ask. This will ensure you are comfortable with the process and know what is going to happen and when. You will receive a copy of your Needs Assessment report and you will be asked to sign it.
