Summary

A summary of the research undertaken into designing person-centred robust Specialist Disability Accommodation

Background and methods

Under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) is for people who need specialist housing solutions. This includes housing that caters for extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.

The NDIS robust SDA design category aims to ‘incorporate a reasonable level of physical access provision and be very resilient, reducing the likelihood of reactive maintenance and reducing the risk’ to the resident, service providers and the community1. The National Disability Insurance Agency has published general design standards for robust SDA. But the guiding principles that focus on leading-edge and person-centred good-practice design in the robust category are not available. Residents’ preferences for robust SDA design have not been well explored.

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is Victoria’s primary supplier of robust SDA. To guide development of future robust SDA builds, the department commissioned ORIMA Research to:

  • pinpoint good practice approaches
  • develop a set of design principles.

The research project involved three stages:

  • literature scan – gathering relevant literature and a ‘deep dive’ review of 8 academic articles, reports and policy papers
  • initial interviews – one-on-one in-depth interviews and a group in-depth interview with four experts2
  • core qualitative research – one-on-one in-depth interviews, group in-depth interviews and mini focus groups with 29 people. This included 23 stakeholders, 2 people with a disability and 4 family/carers of people entitled to robust SDA.

Throughout the research, we refined the design principles with:

  • stakeholders
  • family members/carers
  • residents.

Insights from the literature review informed the principles.

Resident needs, experiences and perceptions of robust SDA

Stakeholders said that robust SDA gives homes to a diverse group of people. This group has a wide range of disability types and sensory and environmental needs (more so than NDIS participants living in other SDA design categories). This includes a distinct group of NDIS participants who showed behaviours of concern.

The robust SDA group includes residents with a range of the following:

  • Disabilities. This includes intellectual disability, autism, acquired brain injury, pica and Prader-Willi syndrome. Some residents have co-occurring disabilities or conditions such as an intellectual disability and co-existing diagnosed mental illness.
  • Sensory needs that need to be addressed in a robust SDA. This includes internal temperature or humidity, lighting, the use of certain colours and noise.
  • Behaviours of concern. This includes self-harming behaviours; aggressive or violent behaviours that may cause harm to others; and destructive or obsessive behaviours that may result in property damage.
  • Environmental needs. These are other factors that could trigger behaviours of concern in the home. These include a lack of personal space, behaviours of other residents’, past trauma-associated triggers (e.g. ‘institutionalised’ design features) and items of fixation.

The research found an important link between the built environment (building location, features and design) and resident outcomes. Well-designed robust SDA plays an important role in improving resident outcomes. It does this by having specific and unique environmental features that support independence and reduce behaviours of concern.

Research respondents raised other issues with robust SDA including:

  • the nature and quality of current robust SDA offerings (which was not considered ‘ideal’ practice)
  • NDIS SDA robust design funding constraints
  • challenges in meeting residents’ choices in shared living spaces.

Stakeholders and family members felt there was a clear need for improvements to robust SDA. The research found a lack of guidance and standards in good-practice robust SDA design.

Design principles

To improve robust SDA design, we developed seven good-practice design principles. The need for a person-centred co-design approach underpins the principles. To tailor homes to individual residents’ needs, spaces should be co-designed with:

  • residents
  • families/carers
  • broader support networks (including family members/carers and support staff).

The good-practice design principles are to:

  • enable a person-centred co-design approach
  • create a homelike space that is not institutional in design
  • maximise independence and freedom, minimising restrictive practices
  • maximise safety and comfort of residents, staff, visitors and neighbours
  • support resident choice and options for interaction with others when desired, as well as privacy and personal space
  • enable (but not replace) effective supports
  • maximise the adaptability and flexibility of the building design.

The research found specific design elements that support these principles (detailed in Part C of this report). In a person-centred approach, consider these design elements with specific residents in mind. Some, but not all, of these elements could be adopted.

  1. National Disability Insurance Agency 2019, NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation: Design Standard, Edition 1.1, National Disability Insurance Agency, Canberra.
  2. Stakeholders included SDA providers, Supported Independent Living providers and other experts in the field of disability (academics, advocacy organisations, peak bodies) as well as representatives from the former Victorian Department of Health and Human Services and the NDIA.

Updated

Back to top