Catered Care – 7 Tips For Choosing a Personal Care Option That Suits Your Needs
Are you someone who has come to that stage in life where you may need a little assistance with daily living in your home? Are you looking for the best disability services that are available to you? Choosing the best personal care option that suits your needs can sometimes be a tricky and confusing task to take onboard.
In this article, we will be going through 7 handy tips that will assist you in that decision making process, so read on to find out more.
- Check Your Eligibility
One of the first steps that you will need to take is to check your eligibility for care options on the ACAT/ACAS website. This is a website that will assist you in arranging an assessment of your care needs by a specialised aged care assessment team.
They will come to your home, assess the situation and then file a report which you will get a copy of and will need when signing up for personal care. Should your care requirements change at any point, a new assessment can be arranged to ensure that you receive the appropriate level of care as circumstances change.
2. Find A Personal Care Provider
The next step is to find a personal care provider that best suits your needs. The service providers that you are looking into must be accredited by the government to provide services to you under your specific care package.
The list of approved service providers can be found on the Care website. Whether you are eligible for home care, disability support or entry into an aged care facility, you will be able to find all the registered services on the website. It is important to ensure that you choose an approved service provider that has government accreditations, in order to ensure yourself the best care possible.
3. Consider The Cost
When you have been allocated a care package, your assessment team will contact you to make sure that you have the budget to cover all your care needs. If you are worried about money, don’t because the Australian Government subsidises a range of aged care and personal care services to keep client’s fees affordable and reasonable.
4. Check Up On The Reputation Of The Personal Care Service
Now with a list of registered services and their costs in your arsenal, it is time to do a little research into services and facilities. The best way you can do this is to head online and check out reviews on Facebook Pages, Google Plus Pages and other various review websites where people have shared their experiences about the service you are looking into.
Clickability is a fantastic resource that you can use, as it is a website where people who have utilised services themselves leave reviews about their experiences. It is crucial that you choose a personal care option that has good reviews, to ensure that you are left in good hands.
5. Consider Your Needs
Do you need someone to help you with grocery shopping, cleaning the house and keeping things at home in order? Or are you someone who needs even more help with things such as taking a shower, eating and consuming medication?
All these are things that you need to take into consideration before choosing the optimal personal care option for yourself. Various companies and services will specialise and cater to various needs, so picking one that is as close to what you need as possible is essential.
6. Focus On Communication and Relationships
How often do care coordinators visit and speak with clients such as yourself? How regularly are care plans reviewed, and how will the service providers ensure that you will get consistent care workers?
All these are questions that you should ask providers before taking the leap into using their services. It is essential that good communication and relationships are forged, in order for you to get both the best care for yourself and the most out of what you are paying for.
7. Don’t Be Afraid To Speak Up
Lastly, if you have already chosen a personal care option but feel like you are not being tended to in ways in which you need, don’t be afraid to speak up about it. If you feel like you have not been given the level of care that you need, then you just may have to change providers and look for something better.
This is nothing to be ashamed about, and something that happens often. Always remember that you have the option to switch carers whenever you feel the need, so rest assured you will not be stuck with one that you are not satisfied with.
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We hope that these 7 tips for choosing a personal care option that suits your needs have been helpful in assisting you with deciding on what care option is best for you.
