FAQ

Ascend Health is a one-of-a-kind bespoke disability service that was founded to improve and raise the standard of disability services in our community. Since 2017, we have helped our exclusive members with everything from daily activities, social and community participation and therapeutic supports. With our unparalleled standards of service, our staff deliver exceptional service, we make sure you enjoy the best life has to offer.

You can either call us on (08) 9468 5595 or use the ‘contact us’ form located on the contact page of our website by clicking HERE. We will then discuss your needs over the phone and how Ascend Health can help. 
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For support coordination, support workers, or therapy assistants, we have an initial assessment fee which covers a 1-hour assessment by a qualified therapist, a 1-hour free Meet and Greet to introduce new services (you may have as many as you need until you find the right fit), and a 2 for 1 deal - buddy shifts with an experienced staff member to facilitate new services. We have an enthusiastic and committed workforce, and with limited waiting time, you can be assured that you’ll find the support that you need with Ascend Health.
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Members only wanting Therapy services may not require an initial assessment.

If you don't currently use Ascend Health, then please give us a call us on (08) 9468 5595 or use the ‘contact us’ form located on the contact page of our website by clicking HERE. We will then discuss your needs over the phone and how Ascend Health can help. 

If you're already a member of Ascend Health, then you can visit Ascend Health Plus to make a booking by visiting Ascend Health Plus.

Our vision is to set the new standard for community health and support services. We put a lot of resources towards developing creative and knowledgeable health professionals by working with university students to cultivate excellence. We set minimum standards for each employee that far exceed any other agency in the space.

At Ascend Health, our goal is to set a new standard when it comes to support in Perth. To achieve this we have a mandatory training program for all the students that work with Ascend. We also structure our support teams to ensure roles are distributed amongst senior therapy students that provide administration and mentoring support. Our health professionals also coach and support senior therapy students in coordinating supports for physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychology, and nursing. 

With this approach, we have a more direct line of communication between support staff and the administration team that allows us to meet our members' needs faster and more accurately.

It's as easy as requesting another or different type of student.

You can request as many meet-and-greets with different students. You can have unlimited meet-and-greets until you find someone that you feel comfortable (at no additional costs). When you book your initial assessment, we’ll collect as much information that we can to ensure that your first meet and greet is suitable for you to reduce the time it takes to get you the support you need.

Yes, Ascend Health became Registered in 2022.

Our registration as an Aged-Care Provider is under development. If you would like to use Ascend for community aged-care we welcome privately funded members.

Support plans are a vital part of providing appropriate, positive and safe support for users on our platform, and this includes specific information on needs, possible risks, and tips on how to best support someone. Once you have booked in a support worker, they will then be able to access the support plan at any time and familiarise themselves with the information.
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The account manager, or person seeking support who is managing their own account, are responsible for honestly and appropriately completing all sections of the support plan prior to booking a support worker. This document is to be reviewed if and when support needs change, and should be reviewed at least every 12 months.
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When information is changed, it is the responsibility of the account manager or person seeking support to notify the support workers within their team. Key information from this plan should also be available for the support worker on shift. Any specific training within the support plan should be managed by the account manager or person seeking support responsible for the account.

We recommend that if you do not have a Companion Card, before your first booking, you should discuss with the other person what expenses will or won’t be paid for.
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You can read about applying for a companion card here

Travel during a Session for Members accessing Ascend Health services through their NDIS can be invoices for Activity-Based Travel.

Before starting at Ascend Health, we check each employee’s photo ID and collect evidence of their enrolment in a health related university degree. Our students also undertake an industry leading training program to ensure that they meet the high standards that Ascend has set as well as working closely with mentors who provide guidance and advice.
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Summary of background checks:
- Working with children check
- Nation police clearance
- Current CPR
- Current First Aid
- Current and up-to-date immunisation record
- WA Drivers Licence
- Evidence of enrolment in tertiary health studies
- COVID vaccine

- Community Disability Support Work
- Domestic Disability Support Work (house-hold tasks, maintenance and other daily activities)
- Personal Care (Complex and Basic needs)
- Therapy Assistance (Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Psychology, and more)
- Mentoring and skill development
- Psychosocial recovery coaching
- Nursing
- Support Coordination
- Physiotherapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech Pathology
- Psychology (under development)

Our services are structured around an intensive support structure and training programme that ensures a high standard of care for all our members. For support work, we only use university health and therapy students that are passionate and motivated to make a difference. These students are supported by a team of mentors and senior therapists that ensure you continue to receive the highest quality of care possible.

No matter what service you’re receiving from Ascend Health, you can be assured that all the required certificates and licences are valid and up to date. These can include annual flu vaccinations, first aid certificates, CPR, national police clearances, and working with children checks. Please advise us if you require any specific licences before booking in services.

Our goal is to ensure you receive the best care possible. To do this, our staff work with you to create a plan to help you achieve your desired goals. This means that we collect information to ensure that we continue to make progress. Here are the details Ascend care staff can view:
- About you
- Goals
- Likes
- Dislikes
- Challenges
- Medications
- Allergies
- Learning Style
- Contact Details
- Next of KIN details
- Past progress notes (therapy and support notes)

We employ university students studying a health related, education, or therapy degree. Please email any experience you have, what area you live in, and your availability to our hiring manager Tim at tim@ascendhealthgroup.com.au and he will contact you if anything becomes available in your area.

You can call us on (08) 9468 5595 or you can fill in our referral form HERE.

Yes. We can arrange a private assessment, and offer two different packages depending on your needs or budget. An initial assessment is a 1 hour assessment in the home. An enhanced initial assessment includes a 1 hour in-home assessment and a 1 hour assessment in the classroom. Learn more about these services here.

No, you don't need a referral, however, a GP can provide you with a Chronic Disease Management Plan (formerly enhanced Primary Care Plan). This allows you to claim partial reimbursement for up to five therapy sessions per calendar year.

Only a GP can assess if you are eligible for this program. Once you have your plan, you simply bring it with you to your assessment and we’ll complete the rest.

Ascend Health strives to continuously improve our services and welcome feedback. You can give us feedback or complaints by:
- Ascend Health Plus or via our website
- Calling (08) 9468 5595
- Emailing safety@ascendhealthgroup.com.au 
- If you wish to provide feedback anonymously you can do so via our website

‍If you would like to give feedback or make a complaint to the NDIA, you can do so by:
- Online form available here
- Calling 1800 035 544
- By emailing feedback@ndis.gov.au

Ascend Health Plus is our member administration portal. It provides an online tool that allows you to book services, track service progress, manage your payments and more. The image below is an example of what the dashboard looks like.

1. Click on the dollar icon on the left hand side of the dashboard. This will bring up a list of all your invoices, the amounts, and the service and payment due dates.
2.The last column is where you'll find the status of each invoice.

Please call Ascend Health on (08) 9468 5595.

You need to call Ascend Health on 1800 573 116, you will speak with our team to discuss what your support needs are. From there you will be walked through our onboarding process. Which includes setting up an Initial Appointment with the Service you require and completing your Profile of Ascend Health Plus.

1. Click on the calendar icon on the left hand side of the dashboard.
2.Change month if required.
3.Select the day you would like to book.
4.Click on 'book session'.

Don’t worry. One of our team members can help get you set up with Ascend Health Plus without your own computer, you only need to have an email address so you can confirm the account with the 2-step authentication process. The good news is that you can ask your support coordinator to manage your services on your behalf via Ascend Health Plus (this works best if you have a plan manager).

1. Log into Ascend Health Plus and click on "Funding Plan" in the left hand column.

2. Click on "Add New Funding Plan". This will override the existing funding plan and create a new Service Agreement.

Select how you manage your funding (choose NDIS if you have a NDIS plan). This will open up the following screen.

3. Enter your NDIS Number, when your NDIS plan ends OR when you you would like your service agreement with Ascend Health Group to end. Enter in the total amount of funding you want to use with Ascend (combined total for therapy and support worker) into the total funding section.

4. Select the service/s you want. Common line items under core funding:
- Assistance with daily life: If you want a support worker to assist you in the home
- Assistance with social and community participation: if you want a support worker to assist you out of your home

Common line items under capacity building funding:
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech Therapy
- Physiotherapy

5. Keep adding services based on what you would like AHG to provide.

6. Don't forget to check the unallocated funding section. This should be $0 as you should have allocated all of your funding to the different types of services. If it is not $0 check the amounts you have entered into each type of service, this may have to be reviewed.

Helpful hint: You can only enter amounts with no decimal place. It helps to round down to ensure you do not go over budget
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7. Don't forget to click save.

You can view all our pricing by clicking on this link HERE. If you have any questions, please call us on 1800 572 116 and we’ll be happy to discuss our costs in more detail.

Via Ascend Health Plus. You’ll have to login and enter your payment information inside the portal. You’ll have the option of entering in your plan managers email address and credit card or direct debt from your nominated bank account.

Prior to every deduction, you’ll be notified via email after every session with a link to the draft notes and invoice. This is when you can pick-up accidental errors such as the hours invoiced for the session.

Don’t stress though, you have the option to instantly reject the invoice for 24 hours after the session and have the power to send it back with notes on why you rejected the invoice. If you let the 24 hours lapse, you’ll have to contact Ascend to manually amend the invoice.

We ensure that we have the resources available before charging the establishment fee. This allows us to cover the costs of the 1-hour assessment by a qualified therapist and support worker, the 1-hour Meet and Greet to introduce new services, and the 2 for 1 buddy deal. You can have as many meet and greets that you need until you find someone that you feel comfortable with.

Ascend is a Registered Provider with the NDIS, we can work with members who are self-managed, plan-managed or NDIA managed. You’ll then have to enter your payment information into your Ascend Health Plus, you’ll have the option of entering in your plan manager's email address, credit card or direct debit from your nominated bank account.

Yes. You can access this information using Ascend Health Plus by clicking on the invoices tab. See the instructions HERE.

University therapy students typically graduate with limited experience working with people with physical and cognitive disabilities, and little to no understanding of how to work with people with disabilities in the home and community settings. Historically, university health curricula hardly covers disability and community services, with no disability units in physiotherapy courses and one disability unit in the occupational therapy course if students are lucky. In addition, little learning is completed on understanding and working within the NDIS. 

As a support worker for Ascend Health, you’ll not only gain valuable knowledge and experience that is beyond your typical university studies, you’ll also get to help people in need in your local community.

We have mentors that cover various regions throughout Perth that are responsible for the support workers and members in their areas. Their role is to ensure each member receives the care that they need and that each support worker has the support they need to help their members. They’ve had the same role as you, and will often have provided support to the same member. You’ll develop a close working relationship with your mentor as you develop your skills at Ascend Health. 

All our support workers and mentors are also supported by therapists that also work with many of our members. They can offer support and guidance as well if you are referred to them by your mentor, or if you’re unable to contact your mentor.

Yes. Actually, this is a big problem in the industry, as most companies only provide a short orientation and then expect the support workers to operate on their own with little ongoing training. We have a comprehensive training program that consists of 50 modules. These assist with both your professional and personal development and run all year with breaks around exams. They also offer the opportunity to share your experiences with your colleagues and ask questions about your members.

The hours are varied and flexible in most cases. This is why being a support worker is great for students, as you can fit work around your studies. Our members are also looking for long-term support, so you should also be prepared to develop close working relationships with your members for a longer period of time. It can therefore be difficult to find work for students only looking for short-term opportunities.

The role of a support worker is varied, and no two members are the same. You can look at the services we offer members HERE as a starting point. The important thing to know is that you have the opportunity to help people with various needs. The more help a member needs, the greater the responsibility and opportunity to learn new skills.

Absolutely. You’ll start off on a buddy shift, which will pair you with a more experienced support worker. You will shadow them so you can observe the tasks they complete, how they communicate with their member, and with their families/carers. This is an opportunity to ask a lot of questions. There are two types of buddy shifts before you start doing solo shifts:

1 - Unpaid buddy & observe (3 hours) - every new support worker starts with 6 hours of unpaid buddy work with an experienced Ascend provider to determine if you want to proceed with a job trial (support work is not for everyone, so this is your chance to back out here). This is usually over 1 or 2 shifts.

2 - Paid buddy shifts (9 hours) - you are paired up with your team mentor with one of their members or the member you might be working with, and you complete the sessions together. This is to build your confidence and skills on the job. You will also learn about reporting and record keeping.