UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide, is hoping to establish a programme
known as Homeshare.
Homeshare is based on a recognition that most older people
want to live in their own home for as long as possible.
For some people, formal services to assist with basic housework,
or cooking meals, can be the pathway to continued living at home.
For others, Homeshare is a way of both meeting those needs, as
well as the need for companionship, and having the opportunity
to offer friendship to others.
There is the possibility for a
much more mutually beneficial relationship than is possible
with formal services. To be able
to do things for one another, fulfils a quite fundamental human
need.
Many older people are living in houses which include rooms they
no longer use. They may find it difficult to keep up with a large
garden, pets etc, or they may feel a lack of safety living alone,
but do not want to move to residential care. In return for a
few hours a week contribution to the household, (eg cooking,
gardening, cleaning) these people offer free rent, in a formal
share house arrangement.
This programme has been operating successfully in Victoria and
NSW for some years, with very positive results. Householders
not only experience a greater sense of safety and security, but
both householders and homesharers talk of the rewards that come
from the relationship which is established.
UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide, is establishing the programme in
a small way in South Australia. An Advisory Group has been established,
with a view to securing funding. Currently there is no funding
for the co-ordination of the matches, and so we are unable at
present to commit to a programme the size of the Victorian one.
We are starting with the resources we currently have with the
hope that if it is successful, the model will be accepted by
SA funding bodies.
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