Many elders in Sydney’s North live with a life changing diagnosis and need social (rather than clinical) support to carry out many of the tasks we all take for granted. Some people living with a life changing diagnosis might not have many carers to support them, and those they do have might feel overwhelmed or ...
Proveda
Compassionate Connectors
GOAL
$146,811
Australia > National / Multi-state > Metro and Regional
Field of Interest
- Health/wellbeing and medical research
- Individual/family services and support
Target Population
- Seniors (65+)
- People with a disability, illness or disease
Proveda
Since 1994, we’ve been providing independent, trusted, specialist industry expertise. We have assisted more than 15,000 people, through some of life’s most difficult and transitional times.
Formerly Community Care Northern Beaches, Proveda began as a locally focused, grassroots community organisation based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Our first services were in aged care and dementia support, however today we have evolved to offer a wider range of services that support our community.
Our vision is for everyone to feel a sense of belonging and connection and be able to live the life they want. Our purpose is to enable individuals and communities to grow, connect and feel supported through collective expertise.
Project Summary
Many elders in Sydney’s North live with a life changing diagnosis and need social (rather than clinical) support to carry out many of the tasks we all take for granted. Some people living with a life changing diagnosis might not have many carers to support them, and those they do have might feel overwhelmed or stressed by the enormity of the tasks. This is where our Compassionate Connectors program steps in.
The Compassionate Connectors program is designed to connect volunteers with people in the community who are over 65 living with a life changing diagnosis. The aim is to build their social networks, ultimately enabling them to remain at home in the Community for longer.
These Community volunteers are called ‘Connectors’ and will identify the additional social and practical supports recipients may require from within their local community and tap into these sources. Connectors may source help with things such as professionals to do a home visit for preparing Wills, Advance Health Directives, completing My Aged Care applications or helping to establish or increase services such as house cleaning, meal delivery, etc.
The day-to-day support provided to the person living with a life changing diagnosis, is done by ‘Willing Helpers.’ These helpers are volunteers from within the family, friends, neighbours or members of the community who are happy to help without expectation of payment. Willing helpers may help with tasks such as dog walking, gardening, transporting to appointments, tidying up or sitting with someone who needs a break.
Project Outcomes
Evidence the program works:
There have been proven benefits to having community networks of support for seniors to rely on. Preliminary findings of a study on the Compassionate Connectors Program, part of the South West Compassionate Communities Network in Western Australia, demonstrated that the approach enabled significant declines (15%) in hospital admissions.
Additionally, it showed that those who were admitted to hospital stayed for 28% less time, and there was 108% more use of community-based services, which are generally cheaper than hospital-based services. The benefits of an approach that focuses on the social over clinical not only can save Australia’s healthcare system money but help make a person’s end of life journey a much more positive experience for not only the person, but their family, friends and carers.
We expect the above results to be replicated in the new communities we're working in and will be collecting and analysing data to show outcomes from each community.
Goal for the future of the program:
Proveda aims to have other regions, including Councils and health networks across the country, recognise the program's success and adapt it to meet their community's needs. Proveda is eager to collaborate with other parties to implement this program in new communities.
With funding from the Australian Communities Foundation, we would look to implement this program in a new region in NSW.
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $643,811
FUNDING
| Funding source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sydney North Primary Health Network | $250,000 |
| Wicking Trust | $247,000 |
| Funding Gap | $643,811 |
EXPENSES
| Expense item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Program Coordinator (+coordination of data collection) for 1 year | $70,143 |
| Training design for 1 year | $8,111 |
| Analysis + Reporting for 1 year | $4,732 |
| Management for 1 year | $6,563 |
| Operational indirect costs for 1 year | $30,438 |
| Travel per KM claims for petrol for 1 year | $2,875 |
| Venue hire for 12 days | $4,800 |
| 15% contingency | $19,149 |
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