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Purpose: Quality disability support is fundamental to the lives of many adults with acquired neurological disability. However, little is known about the factors that influence the quality of paid support. This study is part of a larger project to develop a holistic understanding of quality support, grounded in the experience of people with acquired neurological disability, close others, and disability support workers. The current study focuses on the support worker perspective. Methods: Following constructivist grounded theory methodology, interviews were conducted with 12 support workers. Grounded theory analysis was followed to develop themes and subthemes and build a model of quality support. Results: Five key themes, with fifteen subthemes emerged to depict factors influencing the quality of support. The five themes are: being the right person for the role, delivering quality support in practice, working well together, maintaining and improving quality support, and considering the broader context. Findings emphasise the importance of the support worker recognising the person as an individual and respecting their autonomy. Conclusions: Critical to quality support is centring the needs and preferences of people with disability, improving support worker working conditions and supporting people with disability and support workers to build effective, balanced working relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 4500 people under 65 years of age live in residential aged care (RAC) in Australia, and they experience poorer quality of life than people with similar disabilities in other settings. Governments have long aimed to reduce admissions of young people to RAC, but in 2019, for the first time, the Australian Government adopted target dates for resolving the issue. The targets include reducing admissions of young people to near zero by 2022 and ensuring almost no one remains in RAC beyond 2025. The national strategy focuses mostly on housing and support needs being met via the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The present study drew on quarterly data from the National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse to examine progress toward these targets. Significant progress was evident in terms of young people entering RAC: admissions reduced each quarter between September 2018 and July 2020, halving over two years. No progress was evident in terms of young people leaving RAC for better arrangements; the trend neither increased nor decreased. Prospects for achieving the targets are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]