Getting started
From the first phone call to the first visit, often within a few days (sample).
From a phone call to a first visit
You do not need a referral from a doctor. Anyone can call: the person who needs care, a relative or a neighbour.
Call or send the form
Tell us who needs help and what is getting harder. A care coordinator calls you back, usually the same day (sample).
A free home assessment
The coordinator visits for about an hour to talk through the day, the house and what matters to the person who needs care.
The care plan, written with you
Which visits, at what times, and what happens on each one, in plain words. You see the week and the price before you agree.
The first visit
Often within a few days (sample). The coordinator introduces the carer in person on the first visit.
What a care plan looks like
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Morning7:00 to 10:00
08:0045 min
08:0045 min
08:0045 min
08:0045 min
08:0045 min
08:3045 min
08:3045 min
Lunch12:00 to 13:30
12:3030 min
12:3030 min
12:3030 min
12:3030 min
12:3030 min
Teatime15:00 to 18:00
15:0060 min
Call10 min
Bedtime19:30 to 22:00
20:0030 min
20:0030 min
20:0030 min
20:0030 min
20:0030 min
20:0030 min
20:0030 min
20 visits, 1 phone call, 12¼ hours a week, $426.50 at example prices (sample week).
Carer’s visit, start time and minutesPhone check-in callNo visit
What care costs
You pay for the time a carer spends with you, by the quarter hour, with no joining fee. You get an itemised invoice every two weeks.
Weekday visits, Monday to Friday
Visits of 30 minutes or longer, billed by the quarter hour
$34 an hour
Weekend visits
$38 an hour
Public holidays
$51 an hour
Phone check-in call
With any plan of two visits or more a week
Free
Live-in care
One carer living in, breaks covered
From $1,450 a week
Home assessment
About an hour, at home
Free
Example prices.
Ways to pay
Paying yourself
Most families pay privately, by card or bank transfer. You can stop or change visits with a week’s notice.
Long-term care insurance
Many policies pay towards home care. We send the invoices and care notes your insurer asks for.
Veterans’ benefits
Some veterans and their spouses can get help with home care costs. Ask us how to apply.
State programs
Medicaid waiver programs cover home care for some people. We can tell you who to contact in Springfield (sample).
Every care week starts empty
A care coordinator visits you at home, free of charge, to talk through the day and plan the visits with you. There is nothing to sign at the assessment.
Your week, before the assessment
At the home assessment we fill it in with you: which days, which times, how long.