How Far Does Your Donation Go?
$40 provides an hour of care in the home for a young person with high care needs, providing much needed respite for a full time carer.
$500 purchases a set of grab rails for assisted mobility and safety.
$1,200 buys an adjustable double bed to ensure easier mobility in and out of bed as well as safety for both the young person with high care needs and their carer.
$4,950 will fund a portable hoist to allow for easier and safer transport of a young person with high care needs from bed to a wheelchair and vice versa.
(Coomera to the Coast raised $7,557 in 2009)
Youngare build appropriate accommodation for young people with neurological conditions or with affiliations such as MS that have high care requirements. They provide the opportunity of relevant and dignified lifestyles for young Australians with high care needs.
Tim Martin is a resident at the Youngcare Apartments in Brisbane & he joined the ride in 2009 courtesy of Adrenalin Trike & Motorcycle Tours.
See Tim in the latest commercial for Youngcare.
Tim & his family proudly support Coomera to the Coast in 2010.
From youngcare.com.au/the_cause
“More than 6500 young Australians are currently living in aged care facilities – simply because there are few alternatives.
Right now, there are over 6500 young Australians living in aged care – simply because there are very limited alternatives (Senate Community Reference Committee 2004).
In addition, there are a further 700 000 more struggling at home with support from family, friends and a range of community groups. Clearly this is inappropriate.
Being young is about having a lifetime ahead of you, yet aged care is designed for someone who is at the end of their life. The realities of aged care mean a young person will share a residence where the average age is 86 and the average life expectancy is just three years. More importantly, in most cases, their specific care needs will not be met and differ greatly to those of the elderly residents.
For those young people living in aged care, statistics suggest that:
• 44% will receive a visit from friends less than once a year
• 34% will almost never participate in community based activities such as shopping
• 21% will go outside the home less than once a month
(Di Winkler et al Winkler, D., L. Farnworth, et al. (2006). Australian Health Review)
Countless other studies have demonstrated increased incidences of depression brought about by the social isolation. On top of such sobering facts, it is important to recognise that the family of a young person with 24/7 care needs also endures daily struggles.
Counsellors have advised that 70% of all relationships involving the care of a young person with full-time care needs will end in divorce and this in fact is where the greatest impact is felt.
In many cases it is not just the individual requiring care that is in crisis. It is the family and those around them under greatest pressure and strain, with further statistics revealing that:
• 56% of carers are defined as moderately depressed
• 40% of carers are found to be severely or extremely depressed
• Carers have the lowest level of wellbeing of any group in society
(Dr Robert Cummings The Wellbeing of Australians – Carer Health and Wellbeing 2007)
The issues faced by young people with 24/7 care needs, their families and carers are broad and complex and there are many people in desperate need of assistance. Youngcare believes that there is an urgent need to address this gap in the Australian health care sector, which has been ignored for far too long.”
