Community care services are provided mostly for old or disabled people to live a life of dignity and independence in their last years. In this way, they will not be socially isolated from society. The local authority for social services will take care of these people and provide services for them and take care of them.
It is a tremendous responsibility where there is a need for various facilities and aids like financial help, mental support, and volunteering. There are a lot of services available under the category of community care. They include.
Home Services:
There are three types of home services available in Australia. They are
- Domiciliary: They comprise welfare services like meals on wheels and home services
- Day: They work throughout the day to provide any help to those who need it. They include day hospitals, lunch clubs, and day centers.
- Respite: they are temporary relief centers of primary health care providers. In this way, both the carers and cared ones will have a break from each other.
They include tasks concerning the personal needs of the person. They allocate home helpers for these tasks like bathing, washing, shopping, etc. There are paid and unpaid helpers for doing these tasks. The unpaid forms of help would be volunteers of the community care society.
They can also install household modifications, including installing chairs, lifts, or handrails wherever necessary. They also help with daily meals for those in need and even stock is frozen food items for future use in the week. They also organize recreational and other activities in the form of games, and lectures.
Clinical Services:
Community care service providers also work intending to hear out those who want to speak. They provide counseling facilities to those who want to talk about their problems. It is not always the solution that is looked for, but sometimes, the heart wants to be heard. Many of us do not have the time for it either.
Community care service will assist with professional counseling to help the old and the disabled. In this way, they are more comfortable with the service that is rendered. There are also facilities for other uses, including physiotherapy, podiatry, and diet help. Every person here is regarded as an individual, and so is their service.
How to avail a community care service?
Anyone, including a neighbor or a member from the health care team, can refer to the social service team regarding a patient. Later, an assessment will be done by the local authority. They would assess the problems of the needy, their needs, and their eligibility to be a part of the community.
About all these, they will set up a detailed plan based on the needs of the patient. It would consist of details like the services provided and also allots the responsibility of the volunteers.
Conclusion
Community care services are standard everywhere in Australia. The service is available to at least 70 percent of the whole population. Community care aims to provide a dignified way of living. All the necessary needs of a person like grocery shopping, being socially connected, etc., should be available even if they are old and dependent. It is where humanity plays an important role. Australia’s people, both old and young, are lucky in this regard.
