We began providing Recovery Coach (RC) services to an NDIS Participant who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The participants father has been the initiator for support and has been desperately searching for mental health support for his son. In the first couple of meetings, the participant was adamant that he did not want to receive any support and he was completely disengaged.
Our RC made continuous efforts to engage the participant that all fell short, and each week she was asked to leave early. Our RC and the participant set a date and time for the RC to keep coming back and visiting each week and this is what she did, bringing with her a different approach each week to spark a conversation (such as games, cards, offers to go grab a coffee/milkshake).
After several weeks of no engagement, our RC showed up as usual and ended up having a full 1 hour session with the participant where he expressed his need for a haircut, and interest in getting set up with a support worker. He even said he was worried that if he got a support worker, he may not get to see his RC every week anymore. Although this is not the case, it was a great sign that being persistent each week has been making a difference.
