Support at Home with Salvos Home Care
“As people age, for a variety of reasons, certain things that they do in their life can become more difficult,” Fiona Sanders, General Manager of Salvos Home Care, explains. “This might be because of declining mobility, or because of the way the house is set up, or the usual social support network is no longer available, or possibly even because they’re becoming a little bit forgetful. So, the idea of tapping into a funded home care service is just to make life easier.”
Salvos Home Care, The Salvation Army Aged Care’s in-home care division, offers a range of services to support clients to live independently in their own home. The service works with clients and their families to develop personalised plans based on individual need, which can be adjusted at any time and are focused on enhancing a client’s independence, health and wellbeing.
In terms of the services provided by Salvos Home Care, Fiona notes that there are a vast range of options available to meet the unique needs of each client. “We provide a full range of services at Salvos Home Care; it’s a bit of a one-stop-shop,” Fiona says. “We work with our clients to coordinate whatever services they might need.”
Fiona goes on to say that the most common services for older people are domestic assistance and gardening. “These are the sort of things that people struggle with, perhaps before anything else. It might be hanging the washing on the line, mowing the lawns and weeding, or keeping the house nice and clean and tidy, it might be making the bed,” she notes.
“The next item is probably around social support; assisting people to go shopping, or to access community services to do the things that they may enjoy,” Fiona says. “It might be to go to a social group, take them to church, or take them on an outing.” Other popular services provided include physiotherapy, podiatry, personal care, such as showering people, helping them to dress, and clinical care such as wound care and helping people with medications.
When considering home care, the first step is to call My Aged Care and register, Fiona states. “There’s no obligation once you do it. Then, based on what you feel your needs might be, you need to have an ACAT [“Aged Care Assessment Team”] assessment. The Aged Care Assessment Team will come and assess you and talk to you about the things you find difficult. They will then make suggestions for what services might be available to assist you in the future, and what sort of funding is available.”
When considering what makes Salvos Home Care unique in its delivery of care, Fiona reflects on the organisation’s long history in caring for people. “We’ve been providing care for over 140 years at The Salvation Army and our Home Care division is diverse,” she says. “All our staff are fully qualified. They participate in regular training; they are police checked and we’ve got a great team of support staff to make sure that the team are well looked after and that they care for people properly in the home.” We are always here to help people navigate the tricky aged care system, so call us on 1300 111 227 if you need any advice or support.
