The Federal Government is looking to boost the number of visitors to Victorian aged care homes with a new program to help welcome family and friends.
The Residential Aged Care Visitor Assistants (RACVAs) program – which is being coordinated by the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre (VACRC) – is designed to assist residents with visitors and remote contact, including:
- helping facilities to schedule in-person visits
- assisting visitors with PPE requirements and hand hygiene
- helping residents to use technology to contact family and friends remotely
- assisting with low-level care such as meal distribution, non-intimate care, linen distribution, and front office and administration functions
RACVAs will also be trained in the use of PPE, infection control practices, and working with people with dementia and will be placed with a facility for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of eight weeks.
Providers have told us that that managing visitors – checking flu vaccinations, taking temperatures, recording details and more – has been one of the most staff-intensive challenges of COVID so this measure will no doubt be welcome.
We have to ask the question though: where are these ‘visitation assistants’ coming from?
Victorian providers can email workforce@vacrc.gov.au directly to discuss onboarding a RACVA.
You can find out more about the program here.
