Supporting unpaid carers in the North and West
Nearly 200,000 people provide unpaid and often unrecognised care to family members or loved ones in Melbourne ’ s North and West . Our catchment area covers 13 local government areas .
We support carers in our community directly through Carer Services . Programs underway include Carer Gateway , the Support for Carers Program ( SCP ), Northern Respite Services ( NRS ), and Mental Health Community Support Services ( MHCSS ).
We undertake needs assessments and goal planning , and provide information and referrals , in-home services such as respite and personal care , carer coaching , carer counselling , equipment and vouchers , and health and wellbeing items . We also run a range of groups , events and activities .
This year we focused on increasing the number of carers supported through Carer Gateway , improving our service quality , systems and processes , restructuring and consolidating the program , implementing changes in response to state government recommissioning , and monitored Aged Care Reforms for impact on our NRS service .
40
What did we achieve ?
3,289 carers supported
12,063 hours of SCP services , 134 % of our annual target – provided to 749 distinct carers – that ’ s 166 % of our annual target !
358 mental health carers supported by our MHCSS program , 450 % of our annual target !
2,276 carer counselling sessions ,
1,389 carer coaching sessions delivered by Carer Gateway
Health
300 + carers joined and are actively using our WhatsApp carer groups
509 carers referred to peer-support groups
188 events and activities for priority groups including Seniors Week Mingle , Koorie Carers Lunch , Rainbow Crew activities , Mindfulness Meditation workshops and art therapy . These boost carers ’ connection and wellbeing .
83 ‘ About us ’ presentations to community groups , external providers , carer-led support groups , healthcare professionals , councils , schools , network groups
Where can we improve ?
supporting even more carers under Carer Gateway to meet our target
linking more carers into peer support groups will help carers to build support networks around them and connect with others in similar circumstances
maintaining healthy staffing and resourcing levels to support carers quickly and maintain a positive workforce