The five most common concerns people have about a Home Care Package

‘As you get older, in so many situations you begin to feel either invisible or like a number.
With Vision Australia and with my Home Care Package, I am an individual.’
-Glory, Vision Australia Home Care Participant

As a carer, you want the best for your family member, particularly when it comes to the help they might need to live at home safely and confidently.

Your family member may be reluctant to accept help at home for many different reasons, which can be frustrating if you’re trying to arrange a Home Care Package for them.

That’s why the experts in our Home Care Package team have listed the five most common concerns people have about accepting help at home, and how you can overcome these concerns.

Once you’re armed with an understanding of why your family member might be reluctant about Home Care Packages, you’ll be able to have an informed conversation and put your family member at ease.

Five concerns older people have about home help

1: They have no control about the help they receive

Start the conversation now.

The best way to overcome this concern is to start the conversation with your family member while they are still fully independent. This might seem odd, but it’s essential to their wellbeing that they are fully able to participate in the conversation and make decisions about their care. This removes the urgency to decide and allows for a conversation where help is an option rather than something being forced on them when there’s a crisis, such as a fall or illness.

If they do need help at home now, it will probably be on a smaller scale—perhaps one or two services around the home—which will feel less like an imposition.

Many people discover that after they start receiving some assistance, their fears and concerns evaporate, and they become receptive to additional support at home.

2: They'll be judged as incapable and placed in permanent care

Home Care Packages offer a comprehensive, flexible, and person-centered alternative to permanent care which promotes independence, comfort, and a higher quality of life.

The sole purpose of the services to ensure your family member’s independence is maintained for as long as possible. Your family member will go through an assessment, but this is to help them address and set the goals they would like to achieve.

3: There will be strangers in their home

With a Vision Australia Home Care Package, your family member will be assigned a dedicated team of professionals who will develop a package tailored to their specific needs and goals.

We strive to ensure consistency in the caregivers assigned to you. This means your family member will have the opportunity to build a relationship with a small, regular team who will get your family member’s preferences and needs. This helps to create a sense of familiarity and trust over time.

4: The expense

The cost of a Home Care Package is means-tested, based on income and assets.

We strongly encourage you and your family member to compare the costs and benefits of a Home Care Package, taking into consideration:

the overall financial benefits
the range of services they can receive from a Home Care Package, now and in the future
that some benefits may not always be immediate. For example, most people begin with level 1 or 2 package, which might seem costly at first. However, people’s needs change and as this happens, they can transition through to a level 4 package, with costings staying the same but an increase in services.

5: Having to share too much financial information

Home Care Package recipients do have to provide some financial information for income and asset testing to Services Australia. This process is independent of your Home Care Package Provider

If your family member is concerned about sharing financial information, we encourage you and your family member to seek independent and impartial advice.

OPAN (Older Persons Advocacy Network) provides free, independent, and confidential support to older people receiving government-funded aged care.

The OPAN website is at https://opan.org.au/

In Victoria, ERA (Elder Rights Advocacy) promotes the rights of all older Victorians to receive safe, quality aged care. The ERA website is at https://elderrights.org.au/

Put their mind at rest with a Vision Australia Home Care Package

We’ve drawn on Vision Australia’s 150 years of expertise in blindness and low vision to develop a Home Care Package that offers specialised services underpinned by flexibility and compassion.

Or visit our website here

https://www.visionaustralia.org/services/funding/my-aged-care/home-care-packages

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