This booklet includes coping strategies for family and friends caring for someone with dementia. All the strategies were shared directly by carers from their own experiences.  

Carers sharing with Carers (web view)
Carers sharing with Carers (double sided print version) 

Carer services are now available through an Australia-wide network of Carer Gateway service providers. 

Carer Gateway services and supports are delivered both in person and online and include: 

• Counseling 
• Connecting with other carers through the carer forum online. 
• Respite Care – emergency and planned respite 
• Self-guided coaching – interactive online coaching sessions on a range of topics 
• Skills courses –short online courses to learn new skills in caring for someone and self-care 

• Practical help and advice or information about financial support 

Call Carer Gateway on 1800 422 737 to reach a Carer Gateway service provider in your area. A trained worker will be available to talk with you and help you to find services and support to meet your needs. 

With significant changes in the aged care sector both the Commonwealth and State Governments are committed to ensure that people who receive services are supported to remain as independent as possible. The focus for the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) is on wellness, reablement and restorative care. The ‘Living Well at Home: CHSP Good Practice Guide’ has been developed to provide information about the wellness, reablement and restorative care approaches and what good practice looks like in home support services. 

Social Futures offers free Wellness & Reablement Reflective Practice sessions for community aged care service providers in the Northern Rivers to help embed this approach within their service framework. Email [email protected] for more information or to book a session. 

Organisations providing Commonwealth subsidised aged care services are required to comply with the Aged Care Quality Standards. Organisations will be assessed and must be able to provide evidence of their compliance with and performance against the Quality Standards from 1 July 2019. 

https://www.agedcarequality.gov.au/providers/standards 

The Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP announced a new Charter of Aged Care Rights (the Charter). 

This single charter of rights across aged care is part of the Single Aged Care Quality Framework and will take effect from 1 July 2019. It replaces the four current charters that relate to care recipients’ rights and responsibilities. 

It will apply to people who receive Government-subsidised aged care services, including: 

• residential care 
• home care packages 
• flexible care 

• services provided under the Commonwealth Home Support Program and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program. 

Information about the implementation of the Charter and provider responsibilities is available on the department’s website. 

To understand the differences between the programs and the circumstances under which a HCP client can access CHSP services, see the Department of Health’s Fact Sheet.