Georgia Hiscock

Strategic Injury Management Advisor - Personal Injury, Allianz Australia Workers' Compensation (Vic)

As a Rehabilitation Counsellor by trade, Georgia has over 20 years experience in injury management/prevention, vocational rehabilitation and disability services. Her work history includes consulting and leadership roles in both the compensable and non compensable sectors with a strong focus on service improvement initiatives. Georgia is currently undertaking a Master of Mental Health qualification with a particular interest in developing workplaces of the future that support employee mental health, value lived experience and promote wellbeing from the top down. Georgia is a strong advocate for the health benefits of good work.

Conference Presentation

How can we as Rehabilitation Counsellors and healthcare professionals move beyond traditional practices of advocating for our clients, to providing skills for self- advocacy that will deliver long term benefit?

For individuals affected by a mental health condition, advocacy becomes a vital resource to provide a voice for someone who may not know how to ask for what they need. By supporting self-advocacy where possible, Rehabilitation Counsellors can promote the autonomy of the individual which will further support them in the longer term by having the skills to manage relapse.

This presentation will consider the following questions and provide evidence - based recommendations for making changes at an individual and organisational level to support self-advocacy through changing healthcare provider’s perceptions of an individual’s ability to self-advocate.

• How do we ensure the consumer’s needs are balanced with the compliance requirements of a government funded service (e.g. DES)?

• Would promoting self-advocacy in the first instance better support the consumer in a time limited service?

• How does our health care knowledge as professionals influence the direction we promote?