Lifestyle Services - Support Available

Types of Supported Provided by Homelife Lifestyle Service

Each Service Agreement made between Homelife Lifestyle Service and an individual is unique. Each individual decides what type of support they require. You may like to have an independent person to assist you in deciding what type of support you may like. Homelife Lifestyle Service welcomes their involvement and will assist you to involve whoever you wish in this process. For some individual, they require support that assists them with personal care, domestic duties or shopping. In these situations, Lifestyle Support Workers provide very physical support and are not required or invited to be involved on other areas of the person's lifestyle. Duty list are prepared by the person and the service seeks to provide guidance and negation around getting these duties completed.

For other people, Lifestyle Support workers may be invited to facilitate skill development, managing of behavior, friendships and community connections.

In these situations Homelife Lifestyle Service offers a number of tools that assist with developing goals for the person. These tools are based on the work of Marsha Forest and Jack Pearpoint, two Canadians who were very interested in the principles of inclusion for people with a disability.

Homelife Lifestyle Service offers support in the following areas:

· Personal Care / Domestic Support – Homelife Lifestyle Service can employ lifestyle support workers that can assist you in completing personal care duties like showering toileting, dressing and feeding. Lifestyle Support Workers can also assist you to keep your house and yard clean, wash and iron your clothes as well as shop for food and household items and prepare meals.

· Lifestyle Planning Support –Key Workers can assist you to identify the dreams you and your advocates have for your lifestyle and establish steps to achieve your goals. Lifestyle Support Workers can assist you to achieve these goals.

· Community Connecting– Key Workers can assist you to identify the relationships you have in your life and the relationships you would like to have. By connecting you with your community and the community of Caboolture, Lifestyle Support Workers can assist you to increase the number and quality of community connections you have.

· Well-Being Support –Key Workers can assist you to identify your health and wellbeing goals. Lifestyle Support Workers can assist you to achieve these goals by assisting you to visit doctors and other professionals, maintain a healthy diet and exercise regime, regularly take your medication, obtain appropriate aids and equipment and receive appropriate support from other agencies.

· Accommodation Support –Key Workers can assist you to find appropriate accommodation of your choice within the Caboolture Shire. Lifestyle Support Workers can assist you with accessing housing and accommodation agencies, co-tenancy opportunities and maintaining your tenancy lease.

· Financial Management Support – Key Workers can assist you to plan a budget and link you with financial and budgeting agencies. Lifestyle Support Workers can assist you with staying within your budget, saving plans, paying your bills. and by assisting you with wise shopping.

· Shared Living Support – Homelife Lifestyle Service does not offer residential or group home accommodation options. Where people are unable to live in a home of their own, Homelife offers shared living arrangements with other community members. Key Workers can assist you in find a family or flat mate that you would like to live with. Members of shared living arrangements may becomes an employee of Homelife Lifestyle Service and provides support according to the needs of the person. Other Lifestyle Support Workers may be available to assist in other areas of your lifestyle.

· Respite Support – Key Workers can assist you and your family to identify ways that you may have natural breaks within your lifestyle. Lifestyle Support Workers can assist you to go on holidays, visit friends, or visit Shared Living Arrangements that are able to support you for respite. At times we may also link you to other agencies that provide respite.

· Skill Development Support – Lifestyle Support Workers can assist you to identify what skills you wish to develop and link you into community opportunities that will assist you to develop those skills. Lifestyle Support Workers can assist you to achieve your goals by teaching you new skills, providing you with opportunities to practice new skills, and encouragement and motivation to maintain the new skill.

Homelife Lifestyle Service want to provide holistic support arrangements where each individual and / or advocate relates to one key staff person who plans, organises and co-ordinates support for the individual.

When you commence being supported, you will be allocated a Key Worker who will assist you in the development of a Lifestyle Plan and a Service Agreement relating to this plan. Each Service Agreement will be reviewed at least every six months, where there will be opportunity to discuss whether the support is assisting the persons lifestyle and to plan the support that best addresses their needs for the next period of time. This is an extremely flexible approach. This allows each person's plan to look quite different from those of any other person. It is a very person-centred approach as opposed to a service-centred approach.

For example a support plan for a person supported by Homelife Lifestyle Service may look like this:

· 2 hours of support each morning for personal care and domestic support

· 3 hours per week for shopping support

· Assist to visit specialist appointments

Another example of a support plan may include:

• Provide a fulltime shared living arrangement that will provide personal care support, domestic support and wellbeing support

· Assist the person to manage their behaviour more appropriately

· Facilitate a network of friends, family and respite shared living arrangements that the person can visit on weekends

· Assist the person to budget for a new wardrobe

· Assist the person to visit medical specialists

Lifestyle Support Workers and Key Workers deliver services in line with individual support plans. The Coordinator of Homelife Lifestyle Service is responsible for ensuring that people supported by the service receive a service that is tailored to their needs and dreams and is in line with the vision, beliefs, policies and procedures of the organisation.