Stories | ADA Australia

Below are some case examples of things our advocates have been able to assist with.

Residential care advocacy

Albert’s Story

Albert, who lives in an aged care home recently had a fall whilst walking through the homes garden. Following his fall, the staff told Albert that he was a falls risk and would now require assistance with showering. Albert contacted ADA Australia k because he felt that this was a breach of his privacy.

The advocate listened to Albert’s concerns and informed Albert that he had the right to personal privacy and the right to make decisions about his care, even when those decisions might involve an element of risk.
The advocate supported Albert to discuss his concerns with the manager of the aged care home. At this meeting it was agreed that Albert would sign a waiver accepting personal responsibility for any injury that may occur as a result of his decision to shower unassisted. Albert was happy with this outcome and continues to shower independently.

Masae’s Story

Masae entered an aged care home after having an accident in her home which meant she was unable to care for herself anymore.
Masae is Japanese and was used to cooking traditional cuisine for herself. Since entering the home she was unable to adjust to the food options available to her. She took such a dislike to the food provided,

that she was refusing to eat and her family were concerned. The family did not feel comfortable raising this issue with the aged care home, so with Masae’s permission they decide to contact ADA Australia to seek support.
The Advocate explained to Masae and her family that the Quality of Care Principles 2014 state that meals and refreshments must meet “special dietary requirements, having regard to either medical need or religious or cultural observance”.
Once this was explained to Masae, Masae agreed to meet with the Advocate and the home manager to discuss this issue and ways to address it. The home manager suggested developing a meal plan for Masae incorporating recipes which Masae has used in the past using easily accessible ingredients. Masae agreed to trial the meal plan.
The Advocate returned within 2 weeks to determine the progress of her new meal plan and found that Masae was once again enjoying meal time.

Glenys’s Story

Glenys is a lesbian woman who had trouble finding alternative accommodation due to heterosexist harassment from other residents in her aged care home. Glenys had only spoken to four other residents about her sexual identity during the five years she had lived at the facility. After an argument regarding dining room arrangements,

Glenys began to be rejected from multiple tables in the dining room and was subject to verbal insults. Sometimes the residents at a table would simply stop talking when she sat down or remove the spare chair. Glenys decided that she would prefer to leave the home, rather than stay and contacted ADA Australia for assistance. An advocate was able to help Glenys relocate to new accommodation. Once relocated the advocate connected Glenys with LGBTI-identified staff who were appropriately trained and supported Glenys to feel at home and safe and comfortable in expressing her views. The concerns regarding Glenys’ previous home were referred to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner and the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) visitor scheme was put in place.
While in this case it was good to have achieved a positive outcome that Glenys wanted, it is recognised that there is still significant work to be done for LGBTI clients, particularly in terms of raising awareness in the aged care sector so people feel welcome everywhere.

Tony’s Story

Tony is the carer and Enduring Power of Attorney for his wife Rosa who has dementia. Rosa receives a number of in-home supports including assistance with showering. Tony contacted ADA Australiabecause Rosa’s home care service was sending a different support worker to shower Rosa each day and Tony noticed that Rosa

was getting distressed undressing and showering in front of so many people who she was not familiar with. The advocate listened to Tony’s concerns and informed Tony that Rosa had a right to be treated with dignity and to receive care that was respectful of her privacy and individual preferences. The advocate asked Tony who Rosa’s preferred support workers were and later supported Tony to discuss his concerns and Rosa’s care preferences with the Manager of Home Care Service. Rosa now has two regular workers who provide showering assistance.

Carmen’s Story

Carmen receives a cleaning service through the Commonwealth Home Support Program once a fortnight. Carmen contacted ADA Australia because her support worker had been cutting her regular service short by up to 20 minutes a shift and was not completing all the required cleaning tasks. Carmen was particularly concerned

about her floors being mopped and not dried, as she recently slipped on wet tiles. The advocate listened to Carmen’s concerns and informed her that she has the right to receive a reliable and safe service. The advocate supported Carmen to raise her concerns at a meeting with the Manager of service who was not aware that Carmen’s service had been finishing early.
The Manager also expressed concerned about the risks associated with Carmen’s floors being left wet. The Manager informed Carmen that as a results of her complaint, all staff would receive further training on ensuring client safety and would also be instructed to adhere to the allocated timeframes of a shift. In addition to this, the advocate assisted Carmen to priorities takes to be completed with each cleaning shift and ensured that this was clearly documented in Carmen’s care plan. Since the involvement of ADA Australia, Carmen has noticed a significant improvement in the quality of the cleaning service.

Glenys’s Story

Elizabeth lives alone in a high set house and has no family nearby. She has two friends who live in the same suburb. Elizabeth recently had a heart attack and as a consequence was fitted with a pacemaker. When in the hospital Elizabeth spoke to hospital staff regarding her concerns of how she would cope when she returned

to her home. Elizabeth informed them that she could not lift up one arm and felt that she would struggle with tasks such as vacuuming, mopping and cleaning her bathroom. Elizabeth also thought that she would struggle with shopping and cooking whilst she recovered.
Elizabeth said that had spoken to hospital staff several times and they told her they would get back to her, but no one did. When she arrived home, Elizabeth contacted ADA Australia to ask for some support in accessing home care. An advocate assisted Elizabeth to connect with My Aged Care about her care needs. This resulted in Elizabeth receiving Commonwealth Home Support Services (CHSP).

Anne’s story

Anne visits her local services club every weekend for a meal and a catch up with her friend Amy. Both Anne and Amy enjoy getting out on the dancefloor in their power wheelchairs for a dance. Anne contacted a Disability Advocate after she was advised by club management that she was no longer allowed on the dancefloor in her power

wheelchair.
The advocate listened to Anne’s concerns and supported her to raise her concerns in a meeting with the club manager. At the meeting the club manager explained that wheelchairs had been banned from the dancefloor due to health and safety concerns. The advocate noted that the club was actively preventing people with disabilities from participating in dancing, which was a form of discrimination. The club manager did not agree. The Advocate later supported Anne to make contact with the Human Rights Commission and following the Commission’s involvement the service club removed their policy banning wheelchairs on the dancefloor.

Daniel’s story

Daniel had a stroke at age 37. The stroke affected Daniel’s communication. Daniel mostly understands others but can find it difficult to communicate back and express his views and wishes. Daniel notes he often struggles to find the words he wants to say even though they are right on the tip of his tongue.

Daniel made contact with a Disability Advocate because during health consultations his doctor would always direct health related questions to Daniel’s support worker rather than himself. Daniel felt frustrated by this because with a little more time Daniel could answer the question more accurately himself.
The advocate met with Daniel and took the time to understand Daniels concerns. Together Daniel and the advocate explored options for addressing his concerns. At Daniel’s direction, the advocate talked to Daniel’s support workers about how they could encourage the doctor to direct questions back Daniel. The Advocate also supported Daniel to write a letter to his Doctor expressing his concerns and provide some tips on how to communicate with Daniel. The advocate also gave Daniel information on where he could find more communication support. Daniel gave this letter to his doctor at his next health consultation and his doctor apologised for not including Daniel in discussions about his health. The doctor then used some of the communication strategies to actively engage Daniel in a discussion about his health.

Glenys’s story

Rachael lives in supported accommodation with two other women. A range of support workers come into the house throughout the week to provide assistance with tasks such as cooking, cleaning and shopping.
Rachael contacted a Disability Advocate after one of the support workers yelled at her for getting in the way and pushed her,

leaving bruises on her arms. Rachael said she now feels scared every time this support worker is in the house and stays in her room until the support worker has finished their 5-hour shift.
The Advocate listened to Rachael, explained that she had the right to live free from abuse and presented Rachael with some options for addressing her concern. Rachael decided she no longer wanted the support worker in her home and asked the Advocate to discuss this with her disability service provider. The disability service provider was shocked to hear how Rachael had been treated and apologised to her. An investigation was carried out resulting in the swift/immediate removal of the support worker in question from Rachael’s home.

Ruben’s story

Ruben is a gentle natured Dutch speaking gentleman, who was living in an aged care home and was very unhappy. Ruben’s grandson Neils contacted the Older Persons Advocacy Network as he was concerned about his grandfather, claiming he had been moved into the aged care home unnecessarily and Ruben was now

very isolated. Neils explained that his Aunty Dorma (Ruben’s daughter) was using Ruben’s inability to speak English to take his money. After gaining Ruben’s permission to become involved, through the use of an interpreter, an advocate met with Ruben and Neils at the aged care home to find out what was going on. It became clear that Dorma had taken her father Ruben to the doctor and used Ruben’s language barrier to get a medical directive that Ruben no longer had decision making capacity. This enacting his Enduring Power of Attorney document granting legal access to Dorma to manage all Rubens financial and personal affairs. Dorma had then sold Ruben’s house and moved him into an aged care home, where she asked the home to restrict access to his friends, thus isolating Ruben from people who could help him. The advocate assisted Ruben to see a GP (with an interpreter) to assess his decision-making capacity. The GP deemed him to have capacity, which enabled Ruben with the advocates help to stop Dorma accessing his money. Ruben then got a new phone and computer and has reconnected with his local friends and his family in his home country. He has also been connected to a Dutch speaking social group in the area.

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Advocacy stories

Residential care advocacy

Albert’s Story

Masae’s Story

Glenys’s Story

Home care advocacy

Tony’s Story

Carmen’s Story

Glenys’s Story

Disability advocacy

Anne’s story

Daniel’s story

Glenys’s story

Elder rights and abuse advocacy

Ruben’s story

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