‘Call-to-Test’ COVID-19

The new ‘Call-to-Test’ COVID-19 service is a topic of discussion for many people with disability at the moment.

This free service is for people in metropolitan Melbourne, who have COVID-19 symptoms but cannot leave home due to injury or mobility problems. To access this service, a referral to a GP is needed from a telehealth consultation.

Once you have a referral you can call the 1800 675 398 hotline.

A nurse will visit your home within 48 hours of the service receiving the GP referral. You will be encouraged to remain in isolation for a few days until the results are given to you.

Gina, a Summer Foundation Program Officer in our Lived Experience Team interviewed some people with disability in our network about their experience of this new ‘Call-to-Test’ Procedure.

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Written by: Belinda Aitkens, Summer Foundation Lived Experience Facilitator

Over the past six weeks, the Summer Foundation has been presenting online Housing Options workshops for people with a disability in Tasmania and their families. I was pleased to be a facilitator at these workshops. Up until now, people with a disability in Tasmania have mainly had the traditional options for housing, such as group homes or having to live with family; but not anymore.

“Smile Em,” my sister instructs from behind her camera.

I’m sitting fully masked (posing as directed) with my nieces and nephew standing at the required COVID distance.

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Welcome to our winter update.

Over the past 3 months the Summer Foundation team has worked hard to provide tangible, direct support to people with disability and complex needs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia in March the Summer Foundation responded rapidly with a raft of projects to provide tangible, direct support to people with disability and complex needs.

The Summer Foundation’s program of training to hospital staff, support coordinators, housing seekers and other groups across the country hit a large bump in the road with the COVID-19 lockdown in March.

The State Government recently changed its Hospital Visitor Directions to allow “a disability worker to enter or remain at a hospital for the purpose of providing a disability service to a patient with a disability”.

The change in policy came as a result of one of our storytellers, Sam Petersen working together with the Summer Foundation’s Policy Manager Dr George Taleporos, to drive change in this area.

Over the past 18 months the Summer Foundation’s Leaving Hospital Well Project has built the capacity of Victoria’s health services to understand, navigate and develop best practice collaborative discharge under the NDIS.

The project delivered 93 training sessions to 2,000 participants within 20 Local Health Networks in Victoria. They included local health network staff, support coordinators, allied health and community health staff, GPs and housing providers.

In NSW, around 2,000 younger people live in residential aged care, and many other people with disability live in homes that don’t suit their needs.

Our sister organisation, Summer Housing, is building Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) apartments that you can apply for now in Kirrawee, Westmead, Baulkham Hills, Sydney Olympic Park and Edmondson Park. Other organisations, such as Enliven Housing and Good Housing, are building great new SDA properties around Sydney too.

If you are a person with an acquired neurological disability, a close other with an acquired neurological disability, or a disability support worker, we want to hear your views about the factors that influence the quality of paid disability support.

We will be facilitating online focus groups to discuss your experiences and perspectives. If you are interested in participating, please email research@summerfoundation.org.au and we will tell you more about the project.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made feeling and staying connected more important than ever before.

Our new Staying Connected web page is providing the opportunity for people with disability to share their stories.

You can visit the webpage to find out more here.

Summer Foundation storyteller Michelle has welcomed the opportunity to spend quality time with her family and to learn something new.

“COVID-19 hasn’t really impacted me in a bad way and has actually been a lovely opportunity to spend quality time with my family. I have really missed my support workers though,” Michelle said.

The Summer Foundation has worked with 2 of Australia’s largest providers of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to ensure people with disability can get PPE during COVID-19.

The 2 providers – RSEA Safety and Blackwoods – have each developed PPE online stores for NDIS participants.

SDA participants across Australia recently welcomed much-anticipated changes to the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Rules which will allow people with disability to share an SDA property with people not eligible for the NDIS or SDA, including their partner, children and friends.

Personally, COVID-19 hasn’t really impacted me in a bad way and has actually been a lovely opportunity to spend quality time with my family. I have really missed my support workers though, as they have not been able to come to my home during this time.

Source: ABC News | Reporter: Baz Ruddick

It sounds like a simple thing for most of us — an independent life, living in a house that is set up for our purpose.

But that is not the case for thousands of people living with disabilities. Finding a house fit for their needs is not always so simple.

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Q: What has been your biggest concern during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Staying COVID-free mainly… Especially in a household where we have support workers coming and going. Luckily I have a great team of women supporting me who understand that keeping me safe means keeping themselves and their families safe too. As long as everybody is doing their part to do that, we can prevent the spread amongst ourselves and our loved ones.

State Trustees Australia Foundation has allocated $25,000 to the Summer Foundation as part of the 2020 Community Inclusion grant round.

Q: What has been your biggest concern during the COVID-19 pandemic?

My biggest worry is getting COVID-19, because I have no idea and no control over who people who come into my home are mixing with outside my home. I worry someone will have come into contact with COVID-19 and then I will get it. It was really difficult to get masks, gloves or hand sanitiser.

Q: Why is having easy access to PPE important to you?

Because it hard to access anything especially PPE. PPE protects me from catching COVID-19 and I feel safer when people are at least wearing masks when they are in close contact with me.

Source: SBS News

Sam Petersen is one of many Australians living with disability who has difficulties accessing personal protective equipment, such as face masks. As Australia prepares to lift restrictions, she’s concerned people with disabilities are being left behind.

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The Summer Foundation has joined forces with 2 of Australia’s largest providers of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – RSEA Safety and Blackwoods – to launch 2 online stores offering PPE for people with disability.

The online stores will supply reasonably priced gloves, gowns, surgical masks, face shields, hand sanitiser and disinfectant wipes, and will be accessible to NDIS participants from today.

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The Summer Foundation has decided to reconsider options for all upcoming events in response to the continuing spread of Covid-19. Watch our website for updates.

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We are in the midst of a unique crisis that poses a particularly significant threat to the lives of people with disability and complex needs. Many of the people we support are already susceptible to chest infections and pneumonia because of their limited mobility. COVID-19 makes this threat considerably greater when people are stuck in hospital.

These are challenging and uncertain times for all due to the continuing spread of COVID-19.

We are changing the way we work to help ensure the health and wellbeing of everyone that we work with.

The entire team is now working from home and we are working hard to deliver many of our planned face-to-face events online. See our events page for details.

While our staff are now working from home we continue to be available to support you. You can contact us via email.

Our existing and on-going relevant projects include:

For hospital staff working with people with disability being discharged to the community:

For housing providers, housing seekers and the people supporting them:

The Housing Hub

For support coordinators and allied health professionals supporting people with disability and complex needs living in the community:

Upskill community of practice

The NDIA has also created an information page to help prepare and support NDIS participants and providers at this time.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) information and support

‘Call-to-Test’ COVID-19

Written by: Belinda Aitkens, Summer Foundation Lived Experience Facilitator

Source: ABC News | Reporter: Baz Ruddick

Q: What has been your biggest concern during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Q: What has been your biggest concern during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Q: Why is having easy access to PPE important to you?

Our existing and on-going relevant projects include:

For hospital staff working with people with disability being discharged to the community:

For housing providers, housing seekers and the people supporting them:

For support coordinators and allied health professionals supporting people with disability and complex needs living in the community:

The NDIA has also created an information page to help prepare and support NDIS participants and providers at this time.

Sign up for Summer Foundation news updates here

Sign up for Summer Foundation news updates here

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