If you’ve just been allocated your Home Care Package, congratulations! You now have in your possession the means to tailor-make and create a Home Care Package plan to service all your needs to remain safe, independent and confident in your home.

Your funded letter with your personal and very private, bright-red referral code has been activated and you have chosen a Home Care provider – one that has all the services you specifically require, with great fees – all before the 56-day-expiry date at the bottom of your letter.

You’ve weathered the long waiting period and are now in a position to plan and tailor the services you will need.

There is no denying the sense of relief, not only from receiving your funding and choosing a Home Care provider but in the greater sense of security you now have about your care in the future.

What is a Home Care Package Plan?

Your provider has given you a written care plan outlining your goals and needs as assessed by your ACAT assessor and listed the services they will supply to address your needs.

Your personalised care plan details all of your services, who will deliver them and when they will be delivered.

Your chosen provider must issue your detailed care plan within 14 days of entering into your Home Care Agreement.

What can I include in my Home Care Package Plan?

Your Home Care Package care plan is your tailored menu of all the incredible services you have selected and chosen with your Home Care provider.

Even with a Level 1 Home Care Package, – with about 2-3 hours of care per week and about $10,271 in funding per year – there is an incredible range of services you can pick from and include in your personal plan, such as:

• Domestic assistance – to support your health and peace of mind, to welcome in guests or to just be free of tasks and clutter piling up on your to-do list like,  cleaning the sheets and remaking the beds, clean towels in the bathroom, your tea towels washed and folded, your groceries put away and your fridge cleaned out of foods past their used by dates. The mental impact of having someone to help and shoulder your responsibilities is powerful and leaves you to feel safe in your home
• Gardening and house maintenance – the ability to have someone to keep your lawns and gardens trimmed and tidy is twofold. A regularly maintained home increases your personal safety and your home looks busy, it implies there are people about, a great deterrent to any unwelcome visitors
• Meals and shopping – It is always great to sit down to a home-cooked meal and when you are able to have some of those meals cooked and prepared for you. There will always be times when you will not feel like preparing a meal and rather than missing out and skipping those meals, having this assistance ensures you are nourishing your health regularly under the supervision of a weekly carer
• Personal care – assistance with your personal hygiene daily routines.
• Home modifications – to improve your safety, health and mobility such as shower stools and handrails, access ramps, installing sprinkler systems for your gardens
• Health and wellbeing – you now have access to regular activities both with transport assistance to and from and enrolling in classes to promote your health and wellbeing, like yoga, personal training and meditation
• Assistive equipment and aids to lease or own such as sheepskins, pressure-relieving mattresses, crutches and walking frames to name a few
• In-home respite care – if you have a loved one regularly help and assist you at home, they too can benefit from your package with some respite care to rest and recuperate after illness or recover after caring duties. You can also book in some respite care if your regular family carer is going away and does not want to leave you alone at home

You can always ask to be reassessed if your health needs increase

Once you’ve been allocated a Home Care Package, it’s yours to keep. It doesn’t expire or run out, and the money rolls over and accumulates each month.

Plus, if your health needs increase, you only have to call My Aged Care to be reassessed for a highler-level Package.

Looking for more information?

If you need support finding the right care provider for your needs, or if you’re unsure about the fees being charged by some providers, chat with one of our CareAbout Advisers.