Serena Kirby, Denmark Bulletin
Denmark’s senior residents now have access to a new locally-based home care service.
ACare WA was launched in Denmark last year and is already assisting nearly two dozen local seniors with their home care needs and the number is steadily increasing.
Long-time local and founder of ACare WA Maria Redman said she had started the initiative after seeing how difficult and convoluted the existing system was when her father-in-law needed in-home support.
“I felt the current system was just too hard for some people to manage and they weren’t getting the level of care they really needed,” Marie said.
“With Denmark’s high percentage of ageing population a local service was desperately needed.”
Marie said that ACare WA’s mission was to empower seniors to lead fulfilling lives in the comfort of their homes – for them to be safe and as independent as possible, but still be connected to the local community.
She said that too many senior residents were being forced to leave town and/or their homes in order to gain the level of care they needed and this was a big loss for their family, friends and the broader community.
The group’s home care coordinator, Lynette Sellen, said that unlike other models, ACare’s service was highly personalised and that they worked for the client rather than the home care service providers. ACare WA acts as a coordination link between approved home care package providers and available support workers and then helps to tailor requirements to match the client’s needs and wants.
Marie said that the local knowledge it provided was invaluable to seniors needing assistance.
It helped link people to additional services they may not have first considered and helped to navigate the processes and paperwork for gaining government assistance.
“The person receiving the care is not always the one going through the process of applying for the care as it’s often a family member, spouse or partner that has to do it,” Marie said.
“Being a carer for a loved one can be an incredibly stressful and exhausting task so any extra help we can get for the person needing care helps the carer too.”
Marie said the service recently helped a local woman whose husband had an in-home care package run by an Albany-based provider. He was only able to gain care for two hours a month.
By moving his care to the new local service he was able to get 16 hours a week.
Residents can contact Lynette Sellen on 0407 357 003 for further information.
This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 7 March 2024.
