A COORANBONG woman fears falling and dying alone in her home because she does not qualify for assistance under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
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Dianne Johns*, 57, suffers a range of debilitating health complications as a result of having type-2 diabetes.
She is housebound, requires a walking frame to move about, and has heart problems that cause her to often be fatigued.
Simply going to the toilet and washing her hands was an ordeal, she said. She cannot take a bath or shower and, instead, administers herself sponge baths.
“I need help, but the NDIS turned me down because they don’t cater for people with diabetes,” Ms Johns said.
“I’ve fallen eight times since December 21 while I was doing the dishes. Another time I was pulling the blind down and fell down behind the night-and-day bed.
“I dropped a bread and butter plate and it smashed. But I can’t sweep or vacuum.”
She said she had taken to using plastic plates and bowls to avoid having broken glass or china on the floor.
Neighbours provide valuable assistance, running errands, collecting groceries, taking her to medical appointments, and putting her bins out on garbage night.
But she does not like to impose.
Nobody wants to live like this.
- - Dianne Johns*
A letter declining her NDIS access request said that “based on the information provided” Ms Johns did not meet the access requirements. In order to qualify for the NDIS, the letter said, a person must have an impairment which is “permanent or likely to be permanent”, and an impairment which substantially reduced functional capacity affecting things such as communication, social interaction, mobility, learning, self-care and self-management.
Ms Johns said a diabetes support group was helping her to draft a letter appealing the NDIS decision. That letter would claim that Ms Johns’ impairment did, in fact, meet at least two of the listed criteria.
Ms Johns said she has since sought home care from other agencies and service providers, but was told she was either too young, or she didn’t qualify because she wasn’t in a wheelchair.
“I’ve rung around, and it’s all the same,” she said.
“Nobody wants to live like this. I’m young. I’ve got all my faculties about me. I don’t drink, or smoke, or do drugs.
“I just need someone to help me. I’d love a home-cooked meal, and not something that comes out of a can.”
- * Not her real name
