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So , now , that person might feel hesitant or uncomfortable contacting the government for help .
Some people have had bad experiences with government systems in general .
An example would be people from the Stolen Generation , where children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent were removed from their families by the Australian government .
Another example is people who came from another country to Australia and have lost all contact with their families .
They have no support network to help them navigate the aged care system when they might find it difficult themselves .
And then there ’ s a cohort of people who are generally very suspicious or just afraid of governments and institutions , so they don ’ t want to reach out .
Some people are ineligible to access aged care in Australia because of the age cut-off but would otherwise qualify for aged care support .
Or they do have a carer , but they are estranged from them , or the carer cannot facilitate access to support services . They may also have sensory deficits such as hearing and vision , a language barrier , or cognitive impairment preventing them from gaining access .
We don ’ t just help people to get aged care services , but also other community support that improves their quality of life , such as the local bowling club or a women ’ s association .
Or help them overcome issues such as housing .
Older people are increasingly more likely to experience homelessness – especially older women .
They might be on the brink of homelessness , close to being evicted from their house , and we connect them to people who could help them .
Essentially , we try to help a vulnerable group facing many issues , such as housing difficulties .
What has been a significant challenge for your team setting up the program ? AM : Our challenge is reaching this tricky cohort of people that need our service .
We ’ ve got to find them and offer our help , and hopefully , they ’ ll accept . So , it ’ s quite complicated . For example , one of our first referrals was a woman who lived independently in an aged care facility .
She received Meals on Wheels , and the deliverer noticed that she was living in a poor and unhygienic living environment .
She was also suspicious and paranoid , estranged from her daughter , and divorced her ex-husband five years ago .
Her granddaughter had attempted to help her in the past but couldn ’ t help her any longer .
She was close to being evicted from her property .
So , the challenge for us was to connect her to services to prevent her from eviction and to address her poor living conditions .
Then , we look at ongoing services that could help her in the future , provided that she accepts .
So , each of our team members needs a lot of skills and empathy to negotiate with this group of people .
We also need a lot of connections with different service providers and agencies within the areas we cover .
“ We ’ re learning as we go .
We need to become familiar with what is available , ranging from basic home help to housing .
Because they might not be able to link with these services themselves .
So , it ’ s quite a challenge to set all of this up and reach out to this particular group .
How has the process of setting up the program been for your team ? CT : We ’ re learning as we go .
Of course , we had specific staffing requirements from the funding body , but there ’ s a lot we have to experience and see where we ’ re needed .
The primary health networks have rolled out at different times , so some might have been running for a while , and others are just setting up .
Although the program is federal , each state has a slightly different approach to setting it up . There ’ s also some overlap between the areas each district covers because some areas have a higherthan-expected number of people needing the Care finder program .
So , possibly in a few months , everyone will be at a similar point across the state . At the moment , we ’ re a team of five members . We might hire an administrator when we receive more clients .
We ’ ve had chats with potential service providers who might know some people who need help .
Because we hadn ’ t existed when people needed support , service providers have taken the initiative to help people .
People are just being kind of charitable towards these people and bending some rules to help them .
We are trying to unearth all those vulnerable people so we can help them get into the system and get more help than they ’ re getting now .
It ’ s like linking with everybody who might connect with these people .
We visit events and local communities where they might go , and we ’ ll learn about what exists in the area .
Some of our councils run aged carespecific activity groups month to month .
They ’ ll invite everyone to hear a guest speaker and have a free morning tea that we join to see if we can identify some people that might be our target . ■
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