Home Care Package
How to connect with support when Self-Managing a Home Care Package
Since February 2017, every person who has been approved for a federal government-funded Home Care Package is given the option to ‘self-manage’ it. You get to decide which services you spend your funding on, as long as they are Home Care Package-approved. You also get to choose who delivers the services, such as a traditional aged care agency or independent support workers, like those who offer their services via Mable.
What does self-managing a Home Care Package mean?
Through self-managed Home Care Packages, you can choose your home care package provider (an entity that manages your funding and pays invoices on your behalf for the services you receive) and your support services provider, e.g. independent support workers you connect with via Mable.
It’s important to understand that even though you would be self-managing your team of supports, what services you receive and when you receive them, self-managing does not refer to managing the funds themselves.
This is where a home care package provider who offers genuine self-management comes in. As mentioned above, that’s who ‘hosts’ your package for you. The government continues adding funds to your package throughout the year and beyond, and the HCP provider administers the funds for you. This ensures that all expenses paid are approved within the government’s home care package guidelines.
How do you self-manage a Home Care Package?
You can self-manage your Home Care Package through Mable, and the Mable Team can connect you with our highly recommended HCP provider, HomeMade.
Benefits of self-managing your Home Care Package
By self-managing your own Home Care Package, you benefit from being able to make your own choices. You can select every support worker yourself and even meet them before deciding to engage them. If you want to, you can even find someone who shares your interests, can teach you a new hobby or skill, or speaks your language. And you get to negotiate with a new support worker how much you pay before working with them.
You can make changes to your support schedule according to what’s happening in your life and add new services – such as physiotherapy, podiatry and nursing – as and when you require them.
A big advantage of self-managing your home care package is that more of your package money is spent on actual services, rather than on paying an organisation such as a traditional aged care agency to manage your services. Therefore, you may be able to get more hours of support from the same home care package by self-managing it.
How do I connect with the right supports when self-managing a HCP?
Once you decide on the kind of support you need, such as light housekeeping, social support, or help with medications, meal preparation, showering or mobility, you can search the independent support worker profiles on the Mable website or app. Filter your search criteria to include certain qualifications, the services offered, the geographical location and more.
Once you have a shortlist of people you want to meet, reach out via a message on the website or app, arrange to meet, discuss your needs and make your decision. There is a chat button available on the website and app so that if you have any difficulties, you can simply ask.
You might also want to think about building a support team. Depending on the kind of support services you want — say someone to help you cook and clean, another support worker (perhaps a nurse) to help with medication — you can create a team of support workers to ensure you simplify your support schedule. Find out more about how it can be beneficial to build a team of supports.