Veteran's Support.
Supporting the Veteran Community
At Bromilow Community Care, we provide a broad range of support services (under contract with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs) through programs such as, Veterans’ Home Care (VHC) and Community Nursing. Our services are designed to assist veterans maintain their independence at home.
Depending on their DVA health card status, our clients may have access to the following service options:
- Cleaning and Domestic Support
- Personal Care
- Home and Garden Maintenance
- Respite Care
- Community Nursing
Cleaning and Domestic Support
Veterans’ Home Care Cleaning is generally provided on a weekly or fortnightly basis, dependent on your assessed needs. When receiving VHC cleaning and domestic support from Bromilow you will be assigned a regular cleaner at a consistent time who will do a great job and make your life so much easier at home.
Cleaning and domestic support attracts a small co-payment of $5 per hour up to a maximum of $5 per week and includes:
- Cleaning
- Dishwashing
- Clothes washing and ironing
- Some assistance with meal preparation
- Grocery shopping from a list
DVA card holders can contact the VHC Assessment Agency on 1300 550 450 to obtain approval for domestic assistance. Please specify that you would like Bromilow to provide the service and the Assessment Agency will forward your referral to our office.
Personal Care
This service offers assistance with personal care tasks that you may find difficult to perform on your own at home.
Personal care attracts a small co-payment of $5 per hour up to a maximum of $10 per week and includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Showering or bathing
- Dressing and grooming
- Preparing meals
- Monitoring medications
- A well-being check
- Companionship
Up to 1 ½ hours of personal care assistance per week is available to assist with low-level personal care needs. If clients have long term, high level personal care needs that will take longer than 1 ½ hours per week, the DVA Community Nursing Program may be a more suitable option.
DVA card holders can contact the VHC Assessment Agency on 1300 550 450 to obtain approval for Personal Care assistance. Please specify that you would like Bromilow to provide the service and the Assessment Agency will forward us your referral.
Home and Garden Maintenance
Bromilow’s Home and Garden Maintenance team are highly experienced and can assist veterans with a diverse range of safety related home and garden maintenance requirements.
The focus of the VHC program’s Safety-Related Home and Garden Maintenance is to minimise environmental health and safety hazards that may impact on your life at home.
Our Safety Related Home and Garden Maintenance service attracts a co-payment of $5 per hour up to a maximum of $75 per year and may include:
- Cleaning windows and fans
- Clearing gutters of debris
- Pressure cleaning of slippery surfaces
- Minor maintenance
These services are limited to 15 hours in a 12-month period, based on each clients’ assessed needs.
The VHC Assessment Agency can undertake your assessment over the phone.
The service attracts a co-payment of $5 per hour to a maximum of $75 per year. VHC Assessment Agency 1300 550 450.
Respite Care
Respite Care provides a break to family and informal care givers by temporarily relieving them of their caring responsibilities.
DVA offers Respite Care under one of the following circumstances:
- The client holds a Gold or White Card
- The carer holds a Gold or White Card
Bromilow’s approach to respite care is flexible and is aimed at providing meaningful opportunities for you to engage in enjoyable activities while your primary carer takes a break.
DVA will pay for up to 196 hours of in-home respite care, 28 days of residential respite care or a combination of both in any one financial year. For calculation purposes, seven hours of in-home respite care equals one day of residential respite care.
Respite care is provided without contribution from the client or the carer, meaning there is no co-payment.
DVA card holders can contact the VHC Assessment Agency on 1300 550 450 to obtain approval for respite care. Please specify that you would like Bromilow to provide the service and the Assessment Agency will forward us your referral.
Community Nursing
DVA provides card holders with access to a range of quality health care and related services, including community nursing services. There is no contribution or co-payment to access the DVA Community Nursing services. The aim of DVA’s Community Nursing Program is to enhance your independence and health related outcomes by avoiding early admission to hospital or residential care.
We provide access to community nursing services, delivered by registered nurses, enrolled nurses and nursing support staff. These services can include:
- Up to 58 personal care visits provided by nursing support staff in a 28-day period.
- Up to 26 clinical visits provided by registered nurses in a 28-day period.
- Wound care and other consumables related to your required services.
If eligible for community nursing services, you will usually be referred to us by your GP, hospital doctor if you have been in hospital or a hospital discharge planner. Once we receive your referral we will send one of our registered nurses to help determine your needs and commence your services.
