When Care Works Both Ways

MAP Director Barbara Lightburn, with MacKenzie

There’s a woman we know—let’s call her Kristy. She’s worked in disability support for years and is the kind of person who brings calm to the room just by walking into it. She doesn’t need to raise her voice. People trust her because she listens, not because she’s loud.

One Tuesday afternoon, she was supporting a young man named Liam. Usually gentle. Loves trains. But that day, he was off kilter. Agitated. Something had rattled him, and he couldn’t find the words to say what.

What came next was hard. A bowl thrown. A shout. A line crossed.

Kristy stayed steady. Gave him space. Spoke gently. Didn’t escalate. She used every tool she’d learned, not just from training, but from years of knowing people, of knowing what fear looks like when it wears someone else’s face.

And when it was over, she didn’t shrug and carry on. She wrote it down. Reported it. Asked for support. Not just for herself—but for Liam too.

Because care goes both ways.

At My Ability Pathway (MAP), we believe everyone deserves to be safe. Not just the people we support, but the people who support them.

We know that work-related violence—whether it’s verbal, physical, emotional, or even subtle forms of intimidation—is a very real risk in the disability support sector. But MAP refuses to treat it as “just part of the job.” That kind of thinking doesn’t protect anyone.

What protects people is honesty. Training. Systems that work. Leaders who listen. And a culture where speaking up is seen as strength, not weakness.

We’ve seen too many stories like Kristy’s. That’s why we’ve introduced the MAP Violence Prevention Policy—a new, organisation-wide commitment to safety, respect, and accountability.

This policy makes it clear: violence and aggression are never acceptable, no matter the circumstances. It sets out how we prevent it, how we respond when it happens, and how we support both our team and the individuals we serve to move forward in a way that’s safe, ethical, and informed.

For families, this means knowing that your loved one is being supported by people who are calm, well-trained, and respected in their work.

For external providers, this means working alongside a team that takes risk management seriously—without losing the humanity at the heart of what we do.

For our broader community, it means MAP is not just a service provider. We are an organisation committed to deep care—for everyone in the room.

Our policy is not just words on paper. It’s embedded in how we train, how we debrief, how we make decisions. It reflects our belief that a truly supportive environment lifts everyone—not just the client, not just the carer—but the whole community.

Because when care works both ways, everyone stands a little taller.

If you’d like to read the full policy or speak with someone about how we manage safety at MAP, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We welcome your questions, your partnership, and your trust.

Together, we can keep building the kind of world we all want to live in—safe, respectful, and deeply human.