S.H.A.R.E the Care
A new support program for carers is giving them access – conveniently in one service – to ‘person focused’ services, a healthy lifestyle, assistance from agencies, and rest and education to strengthen their skills when caring for a loved one.
Carers meeting at Centacare Enoggera.
The Queensland based service, designed and developed by Centacare, an organisation which has been the social services arm of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Brisbane for more than 50 years, is committed to understanding a carer’s unique needs and preferences.
The name of the service, S.H.A.R.E the Care, cleverly takes the form of an ‘acrostic’, where each letter spells out a word.
The letter ‘s’ spells ‘services’; ‘h’ for ‘health’; ‘a’ for ‘assistance’; ‘r’ for ‘rest’; and ‘e’ for ‘education’.
Client feedback suggests the S.H.A.R.E the Care service gives carers the opportunity and ease to access several services under “one umbrella”.
Ann Donaghy, Centacare service manager, claims carers of the service have confided they have felt like it’s the “first time” anybody has wanted to know about or acknowledge them.
“All we wanted to do was look at how we could improve things, and one of the areas we focused on was sitting down to make time to talk to the carer and hear their story,” Ms Donaghy says.
“One of things we really wanted to push was that it’s okay to have a rest. Don’t feel guilty about that,” she adds.
While respite care can give carers a much needed break, Ms Donaghy claims one thing which isn’t offered here, which is with S.H.A.R.E the Care, is a full assessment of the carers’ care needs, as well as counselling.
Although she believes carer support services are “getting better”, Ms Donaghy acknowledges there’s still a “long way to go”.
“We actually have two clients – the client and the carer. It’s a whole family unit, and in order to create this unit, we need to take care of the carer.”
For more information or queries, contact Fiona Lovejoy, S.H.A.R.E the Care program coordinator: call (07) 3354 0999 or email ccs.enoggerainfo@bne.centacare.net.au
