Lending a hand to change

South Australian not-for-profit aged care provider, Helping Hand, has launched a campaign that challenges the public perception of aged care.

Helping Hand chief executive, Ian Hardy, says the campaign highlights the diversity of contemporary aged care services and also puts a spotlight on the organisation’s client focused approach to communicating with the community.

“Service choices have changed dramatically in the past few years, but the community is often not aware of the range of possibilities – unfortunately we don’t need to look beyond the sector to understand why,” Mr Hardy says.

As a member of the national Aged and Community Services Australia Board (ACSAB), Mr Hardy observes the frustration providers experience when communicating complex, government-regulated models to clients, and acknowledges it has been an issue for many years.

“It is not a new problem,” he says. “The recent consultations undertaken as part of the federal government’s reform plans highlight that the complexity of the system and language used when describing services is making it difficult for people to ask for services that are right for them.

“This leads us to the current dilemma, where the public’s perception of aged care is

outdated.”

Addressing the challenge head-on, Helping Hand is looking to its clients for the solution.

“We engaged with clients and their families and listened to the way they describe services,” Mr Hardy explains.

“We are using their words and their stories, because that is the only way we can be certain it makes sense,” he says.

This approach is the foundation of Helping Hand’s communication strategy, including the relaunched website – www.helpinghand.org.au and its marketing campaign.

Playing on the term ‘aged care’ is also a response to client and community feedback.

“Our clients do not associate with the term ‘aged care’ because many of them do not identify themselves as ‘aged’ or ‘old’ – they think aged care equals nursing homes, and while it remains our core business it does not reflect the diversity of services we provide,” Mr Hardy says.

“New aged care challenges the stereotype and prompts the question: ‘what is different about aged care services today?’”

Helping Hand offers services including: physical therapy; domestic and personal services; mental health support; counselling and opportunities for social involvement, as well as ‘traditional’ residential care.

Some of these services are depicted in Helping Hand’s new television commercial, which has gone to air across South Australia.

“The commercial takes a lesstypical view of aged care by following one of our clients, Peter, who has experienced social isolation.

“It reminds people that you don’t need to be ready for a nursing home to think about aged care services,” Mr Hardy says.

The television commercial can be viewed on Helping Hand’s website at www.helpinghand.org.au/services