November 16, 2022
A Yarraman not-for-profit group is helping older residents stay in their homes rather than move out of the area into aged care facilities.
Yarraman Cares Inc is modelled on the successful Bell Cares, which was featured in an ABC Landline television report in May.
Secretary Vicki Buchanan someone in Yarraman watched the program “and it all snowballed from there”.
Yarraman Cares, which is being mentored by Bell Cares, was launched on October 6 and already has about 60 clients.
At the beginning of November, the association launched a shopfront at 7 Margaret Street which is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 3:00pm.
Vicki stressed that Yarraman Cares does not provide aged care; the association’s volunteers simply co-ordinate care services.
They help people apply for government Home Care Packages, support them through the assessment process, and then line up the support workers which will provide the actual services – everything from cleaning and gardening to home maintenance and modifications.
All of this is at no cost to the person being assisted.
The support workers, who live locally, are paid by an aged care provider (Brisbane-based Trilogy Care) out of the client’s Home Care Package. Yarraman Cares receives a small percentage of this payment.
These small payments and donations are what keep Yarraman Cares going.
Vicki said there was a great need for the service as 35 per cent of the Yarraman community was aged over 65, with a very high percentage over 80.
“They just want to soldier on alone. But this is a way to keep them in their homes longer,” she said.
“We have been absolutely swamped by the need.”
The ABC-TV program identified the desire of many older people living in small country towns to stay in their homes rather than move to aged care facilities in bigger centres, away from family and friends.
At the moment, Yarraman Cares has eight volunteers, two of whom also do work in clients’ homes.
Vicki said the association was aiming to employ someone as a co-ordinator by mid-2023.
“As well as the visits, there’s also a lot of chasing up and follow-ups,” she said.
The association does not handle NDIS-funded residents, just people aged over 65.
The idea of care co-ordination is to provide extra help to clients who want the benefits of self-managed care.
Yarraman Cares says the model increases the number of care hours provided to a client, with the added benefit that the dollars stay in the local community.
Since the Landline report, groups based on the Bell Cares model have also opened in other locations including Kilkivan and Rockhampton
Yarraman Cares can be contacted by email, online or by phoning 0493-495-181
What a marvellous idea for a small town. Yes, I did see the ABC programme and thought at the time this has huge possibilities if the small town communities can organise it and sustain it with volunteers. Well done, Yarraman.
Let’s hope the government bureaucrats keep their noses out of it or their grubby little regulating fingers in their own mess.