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What is Attendant Care?
Attendant care refers to any paid care or support services delivered at a person’s home or in their community to assist them to remain living in the community. It targets people of all ages, with ill health or a disability.
Attendant care aims to maintain or improve a person’s independence and reduce his/her risk of admission to a facility or hospital. This is achieved by providing assistance based on each person’s individual needs. It may include nursing care and assistance with all activities of daily living including personal assistance, domestic services, community access, vocational support, educational support, child care services, gardening/home maintenance, respite care, palliative care, social support, therapy program support.
Attendant care therefore supports the Commonwealth and State policies of allowing people to actively participate in society, remain in their own homes and avoid unnecessary residential care.
Attendant care services (as per the Attendant Care Industry Management Ststem Standard 2008) may include, but are not limited to:
Personal assistance: Includes assistance with personal care activities such as feeding, drinking, toileting, personal hygiene, grooming and dressing and personal administration such as personal correspondence.
Domestic services: Includes cooking, cleaning, shopping and similar tasks involved in the everyday operation and maintenance of a household.
Community access: Includes social and avocational activities and facilitation of community access through transport and mobility.
Home nursing: Includes those direct care tasks requiring specialised skills, training or experience of a Registered Nurse.
Gardening / home maintenance services: Includes performing routine garden/home maintenance for the purpose of upkeep and to ensure safe and easy access for the individual.
Child care services: Involves supervising and attending to the needs of children for the purpose of ensuring their welfare in the absence of a parent, guardian or other suitable Carer.
Educational support: Includes those services required to allow the person to enter and remain at school or other educational facility.
Vocational support: Includes those services required to assist the person to maintain employment.
Respite care: Provides respite for either the person or their family/Carer (to provide a break) and can be provided for the person at home or in a separate location.
Social support: Assists the person to participate in social activities in the community.
Palliative care: Provides care and assistance in the last stages of life.
Therapy program support: Involves implementing therapeutic programs.
Attendant Care Worker
Is a person who is paid to assist people with disabilities (and their family / Carer), the frail aged, and those recovering from acute health issues, to perform tasks of daily living so as to participate in social, family and community activities in the person’s home or their community.
Carer
Carer includes any unpaid person who assists the service user (this may or may not be a family member).
Focusing on the Service User