Written by Julie Higginbotham, Senior Case Coordinator, Mecklenburg County CDSA
OK, people – here we are again with another Concept of the Week, or COW! Locally, we’ve been thinking more about what it looks like when service coordinators get to sit in on visits with providers. Take a look at this conversation-starter….
The Big Dance!
Service coordinators and providers working together as a team during monitoring visits can be rewarding, but tricky, if you don’t know the moves.
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What are the major functions of the monitoring visit?
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Who takes the lead when?
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When do you trade places?
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What strategies do you have for planning, communicating, and working together to support the family?
Alright, time for more shameless requests for comments! We know that this is a big topic, especially here in Mecklenburg County because we’ve been talking so much about coaching interactions and teaming. Let us know what you think – we know you’re out there…. 🙂
We had a good discussion around this topic in our team meeting this week. Comments centered around the balance/dance between the provider and the SC on home visits. Some of the things that came up included being more cognizant that time is not taken away from a therapy session for service corrdinator issues (these can be handled before or after sessions or at a separate visit when they don’t involve the team), ways to ensure that best practices and coaching occur without taking over a session (joint planning and communication before and after visits were some of the suggestions), and remembering what the SC’s role is on those visits (e.g., monitoring the delivery of services to ensure outcomes are being addressed). Good, open,and frequent communication with providers is key!
My team had a good, honest and heartfelt discussion about how to help improve communciation between all the IFSP team members. SCs now have better awareness of what providers are thinking and striving for and how to create a more balanced teaming approach. SCs left the meeting thinking about all the IFSP teams on their caseload and the sessions they had visited and agreed to check in with their team members to get some feedback.
Wow – those are some great points! There’s definitely a balance to it all, and we’re ready for lots of practice to get better at it! 🙂
My team had a nice discussion as well. SCs shared their experiences and made some suggestions about what has worked well in the past in regards to monitoring visits including arriving a few minutes early or staying later to discuss things with the family that may not be related to the therapy session. Additionally, the importance of open commnunication with providers was confirmed.
Great points – there’s definitely a balance in getting service coordination activities done without interfering with regular supporting services visits. I think we’ll keep seeing a theme in open communication… 🙂