Kristina: My name is Kristina Martinelli and I'm the team leader of Home Support. Home
and community care are the services that we offer and they're a group of services to assist
frail older people aged 65 plus, and people with disabilities to remain
living in their homes independently and actively for as long as possible. These services are
also for carers of these people. The services include home care, personal care, respite
care, meals services, and property maintenance.
Home Care is a service which provides basic domestic assistance. Our workers work alongside
our clients to ensure that their home is clean but also safe. Doing things with our clients
and not for the clients is our motto. It's important for people to continue to do things
in their community and be social, and active for as long as possible.
Carmel: Hello, my name is Carmel Tiberii. I am the Home and Community Care Assessment
Officer and Staff Supervisor here at the City of Whittlesea. So when someone makes contact
with us we ask some very basic questions. Things for example maybe, do you have a disability
pension, do you have an age pension? Then we ask very simple questions around what are
your needs. So what are the things that you're struggling with your day to day? So is it
you need help with some household tasks? Is it that you are struggling to shower independently
or you're just a little bit fearful of showering independently and you just need someone to
supervise you? Do you need someone to take you shopping? What are your health issues?
So they're all the basic questions that we ask when someone makes contact with us.
Once we understand what it is that you may require, we then send the referral off to
an assessment officer which is someone like myself. We will make contact with you, organise
a time to come out and visit. It's very important that someone remains as independent as possible
within their own home.
So as an assessment officer I will sit down with you to discuss what needs you have. For
example, if you would like to continue vacuuming independently, then I would strongly encourage
that. But if it's mopping that you struggle with and you'd like someone to just come in
once a fortnight just to do some mopping and maybe clean your shower, then the goal
would be around you remaining independent, continuing to vacuum but then we might support
you with the heavier tasks that you struggle with and stresses you out.
Josie: Hi, I'm Josie and I'm a home support worker for the City of Whittlesea. As a home
support worker the services I provide are home care, personal care, and respite care.
So with home care that involves domestic assistance. That means helping the clients with their
house cleaning. And respite care, respite care involves assisting the carer with giving
them a break from their caring responsibilities and we can do activities with the client in
the house or in the community.
What I love most about this job is that you get to meet lovely, friendly people. You get
to know them and develop a relationship with them. So the services that we provide give
support and assistance to the client so that they can live in their own home as long as
possible and so they can continue with their daily activities.
I've been giving personal care to Otto for over a year now and with my assistance he
feels safe and reassured when he's showering and dressing, and he's much more confident,
and yeah, and he's a happier person.
Lottie: I'm Otto's wife, Lottie and I am very pleased that we get the help from council
because it really helps me a lot, because I'm pretty bad with my back. I can go down
but very hard to get up, so it's really very helpful and everybody is very nice. Well,
it helps him and me a lot because it's pretty hard. He is quite big compared to me and it's
pretty hard for me to do everything, so we are very glad that they come.
She cleans the bathroom, the toilets, she vacuums one bedroom, she does the kitchen
floor and the vacuuming, vacuum the bedroom and in here. They're our girls, all of them,
aren't they? Because we sometimes get somebody standing in for the one who is sick, but they
are all just as lovely. I really can recommend it.