Dr Anne Peachey

Previous research on Volunteering in aged care settings in Western Australia: Good practice during covid-19 and beyond (Paull & Paulin 2022) and The Jacaranda Project (Paull & Paulin 2020) highlighted several issues which merited further investigation. In addition, the Royal Commission on Aged Care Quality and Safety (CoA, 2021) made many recommendations to improve aged care provision in Australia including recognition of the importance of the contribution of volunteers in addressing social isolation and assistance with client activities in age care settings.

This report outlines a project involving a series of interviews and research workshops (held in person and online) over several months in 2023 and 2024 by the Project Team from Murdoch University. The project was designed to develop an understanding of the role of those who managed or coordinated volunteer activity in residential dementia care settings in Western Australia.

The outcomes of this research are set out in the following report.

Key findings in relation to managing volunteering in dementia care settings in Western Australia in 2023/24 are as follows:

Communications: Language used is important. In the interests of clarity for this report, we refer to volunteers/visitors, residents/clients and volunteer managers.

Complexity: There are several levels of cognitive impairment/dementia which require different levels of approach in managing volunteers in aged care settings.

Compliance: Government policy now requires aged care providers to have a volunteer program and for those volunteers to be well trained.

Organisational Policies: Ongoing recognition and support for volunteer managers and volunteer programs is vital.

Managing at a distance: Volunteer managers often manage at a distance from the site where volunteering takes place, adding a layer of complexity for both volunteers and managers.

First Language: Learning how to communicate with first language speakers is important and resources to assist such as advice on talking to someone with dementia which may be useful for volunteer involving organisations to offer to their volunteers in dementia care settings.

Training: For both volunteer managers and volunteers. The nature and volume of training is a delicate balance, not only to identify how much is enough, but also to meet compliance and motivational needs.

Homelessness occurs when an individual does not have access to safe, adequate or secure shelter. Homelessness can lead to much higher use of mainstream public support services, such as health and justice services, than is evident in the general population (Flatau et al. 2008; Zaretzky et al. 2008). At the same time, services supporting homeless people may assist them to achieve positive change in their life and so reduce the use of these services and their reliance on welfare services. Increased housing stability can also result in decreased costs for providers of public housing through a decrease in the number of evictions. Given the costs of homelessness, the provision of homelessness services may result in ‘whole-of-government’ budgetary savings as a result of improved client outcomes. With the Australian Government’s White Paper on Homelessness, The Road Home (2008) and the commencement of the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) and the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH), there has been increased emphasis on examining the outcomes of homelessness support programs and whether these programs are cost-effective.

The homelessness, drug and alcohol, and mental health service systems are separate service structures in Australia. They have their own unique funding and governance arrangements and work in separate domains. The homelessness service system fits largely within a community services support framework, while drug and alcohol, and mental health services are embedded within their respective health systems. Despite the fact that the homelessness, drug and alcohol, and mental health service systems are separate, they share many of the same clients and address similar problems among clients. Homelessness services, for example, provide support to clients who also have drug and alcohol, and mental health needs. Therefore, the homelessness, drug and alcohol, and mental health service systems interact. Service integration and effective working relationships between services across the homelessness, drug and alcohol, and mental health systems is, a priori, critical in achieving good outcomes for clients wherever they may be located. Service integration has become a point of policy focus in recent years. Despite the focus on systems and service integration in the present policy environment and among practitioners, there has been no study, as far as we are aware, of the integration of homelessness, drug and alcohol, and mental health services in Australia that also considers the perspective of clients. This study aims to fill this critical gap in the literature. The purpose of the present study is to increase our understanding of the extent and ways in which homelessness, drug and alcohol, and mental health services are working together to provide services to clients with particular emphasis on the needs of homeless people. The study also considers the barriers, costs and benefits of service integration and the perceived effectiveness of various integrated service delivery responses. It focuses at both the service level and at the level of the client and addresses the question as to client perceptions of the integration of services and the effectiveness of the services they are receiving.