With a proud history of providing services for over 20 years, and known for their innovation in service delivery and service options.  Feros Care is a flexible organization distinguished by their client centred mission, promoting the status of older people, and actively supporting their rights to lifestyle choices, advocacy and independence.

 Feros Care can now offer your patients Personal Alarms with NO installation or upfront costs through the Social Support Monitoring Program whose target group is people who are older, have a disability and their carers who reside in the Hastings area. The program may also provide direct care hours to help people undertake shopping, attend medical appointments, social outings and to provide respite for carers.  The Social Support Monitoring Program is funded by the Australian Government and Ageing, Disability and Home Care, Department of Human Services NSW.

 The NEW Feros Care LIFE LINK personal alarm technology range includes other smart assistive devices and environmental devices which do not require the patient to remember to wear an alarm or even push a button in the event of an emergency.

Examples of the subsidized assistive technologies available under the program include:

Falls Detectors – for people who are prone to falling, becoming unconscious and subsequently unable to physically activate or press an alarm button.  This device is worn on the body just like a personal alarm however, it has an in built microprocessor and an alarm call is activated through impact and the change in angle of mercury level.

Bed Sensors – for people who go to the bathroom of a night time and do not wear their personal alarm or falls detector and are at risk of falls or who may become disoriented during the night.  If a patient has not returned to bed in the appropriate time set for them (ascertained at time of assessment) then an alarm call will be activated.  This sensor can also be programmed to have a lamp automatically come on once a patient’s body weight has come off the sensor providing light for safety and guidance back to the bedroom. The lamp will also then dim over 5 seconds once the person has returned to bed so there is no sudden ‘lights out’.

Passive Infer Red Sensor (PIR) – for people who live alone and is designed to detect inactivity in the home and activate an alarm call .  If the sensor does not detect movement in certain areas in the home during two pre-determined  time periods (set according to the patients daily activities) then an alarm call will be raised. This device is now seen as essential for all clients of Feros Care as it ensures no-one will be left for extended periods of time unaided following an unforeseen accident or event.

For more information on any of the assistive devices or a demonstration of all the assistive technologies at your next practice meeting call  Bridgette Clarke on 1300 763 583.

Feros Care’s Gateway and Referral Centre at Coolangatta was awarded a Highly Commended for its team’s innovative work in using everyday technologies to identify client needs and deliver client services faster.

D&R Community Services’ Cairns team was awarded a Highly Commended for its skilled team’s dedicated delivery of service and care in Queensland’s regional, rural and remote areas.

Aged Care Queensland CEO Anton Kardash said the Awards gave public recognition to the pioneering work conducted by Queensland aged and community care providers.

“The Minister’s Awards are the highest national honour for an aged and community care provider.

“The aged care sector is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic professional workforces in Australia and as such, it demands a lot from its workers and leaders across the management, nursing and allied health fields. “Queensland’s fantastic results in this year’s Awards are a testament to our State providers’ ability to create contemporary responses to the challenges of our industry and an ageing population.

“Our providers don’t just exist in the sector, they are pushing it forward,” Mr Kardash said.

Feros Care general manager community services Gabriele Taylor said the organisation’s commitment to harnessing technologies had allowed it to streamline the efficiency of administration procedures and instead, have more people assisting our seniors in the community.

“The nature of our industry demands personalised service for each of our clients. Our system has the intelligence and flexibility to instantaneously direct them to the right services for their needs without having to wait weeks in someone’s in-tray.

“Our clients value our commitment to combining contemporary models of business and care and as a result, we have grown more than 600 per cent during the past 18 months,” Ms Taylor said

D&R Community Services director Debbie Rivers said since expanding into Queensland from the Northern Territory more than two years ago, D&R has grown more than four times its original size.

“Currently, we have more than 100 staff delivering care to ageing Queenslanders in rural and remote areas from Cairns to Cape York. “With more than 90 percent of our staff and clients being from Indigenous backgrounds, we have been able to develop innovative ways to deliver culturally-appropriate community care and services that the community otherwise wouldn’t receive in such isolated areas,” Ms Rivers said. Federal Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot announced the awards on 3 December.

Although personal alarms have been in Australia for some time now, the new Feros Life Link system also provides additional monitoring options to provide unobtrusive, but effective solutions for those with Dementia. The Life Link system can be set up to provide day and night time alerts that can be triggered by Dementia related wandering.

According to recent research, ageing populations, such as those found in Port Macquarie and the Tweed, have had a significant increase in people suffering from the distressing and debilitating effects of Dementia. That’s why assistive technologies have such an important role to play in the well-being of those with Dementia because, without a significant medical breakthrough, there will be an even greater prevalence in the coming years of those with Dementia and all its related safety concerns for carers.

However, the Life Link system can also help Seniors who live alone because it can also be used to detect falls, ensure bathroom safety and identify problems in the home that can be caused by extreme temperatures, gas leaks or smoke as well as provide medication reminders.

Care Manager for the Port Macquarie Region, Ms Bridgette Clarke, had this to say about Life Link Telecare packages, “Technology has grown in leaps and bounds. Not only can we offer personal alarms to people who need them, but we can also provide other ‘assistive technologies’ in the same package. This means people can stay in their home as long as they want too with greater safety and more security. Feros Care it is all about supporting people who choose to remain living in their own homes as well as reducing the worry and stress of family and carers.

Ms Clarke went on to say, “Anybody wishing to receive more information about the range of Feros Care services now available in the Hastings region can find out more from our website, www.feroscare.com.au or by calling our friendly team on 1300 851 771.  But, I really think local Seniors will be delighted to find that Feros Care’s Life Link’s Telecare services will offer them even greater lifestyle choice.”

Port Macquaire local, Ms Bridgette Clarke, who was recently appointed by Feros Care as their Care Manager for the Port Macquaire Region has this to say, “I am delighted to be working in my home community for such a well-respected organisation.  Although Feros Care may be a new name in this regon, they have been providing a wide range of aged and community care services tailored to meet the needs of older people and those with disabilities on the Far North Coast and in South East Queensland for over 20 years”.

She went on to say, “Feros Care Ltd. is a community-owned not for profit company and are dedicated to providing support and assistance to Seniors and those with disabilities who want to reamin in their own homes but need some help to do so.”

The CEO of Feros Care, Ms Jennene Buckley, opened the event and also introduced Feros Care’s new range of the Telehealth Care products which have been specially designed for ease of use by people with a wide variety of health and care needs.

Ms Clarke, along with Will Grant from the company that has brought the Telehealth Care range to Australia, gave a demonstation of these ‘assistive technologies’ to show how they can provide easy to use solutions for people who want to live in their own homes longer but with greater safety.  For more information on Feros Care and the services they offer, please contact Feros Care on 1300 763 583 or visit their website at www.feroscare.com.au

Feros Care Winners

Feros Care won both the Not-For-Profit Network Project of the Year 2008 for ‘Northern Rivers Primary Palliative Care Project’ and Organisation of the Year 2008.

View the article – click to download PDF. 2008-Organisation-Project-of-Year

Feros Care unveiled a hi-tech, central communication centre called the “Community Gateway”, which enables more efficient delivery of aged care services, along with a range of assisted living technologies that allow people to remain living in their own home longer and retain their independence.

The assisted living technologies, which are already widely used throughout the UK, are new to Australia and include falls detection, emergency response, exit monitoring (for people with dementia), environmental safety (including bathroom and kitchen), night time safety, continence management, and daily scheduled phone calls.

The technologies are a cost effective solution to allow people to remain living in their own homes safely and securely. They also provide peace of mind and relief for families and carers, who often can’t be present 24 hours a day.

While Australia’s aged care worries are regularly headlined, the NSW and South East Queensland are facing an acute aged care challenge. There are currently 1 in 5 people aged over 65 living in the region, compared to the national figure of 1 in 7. This ratio is expected to reach 1 in 3 by 2050. North Coast

Feros Care CEO, Jennene Buckley said: “With our region’s rapidly growing ageing population, it is essential we continue to find more advanced ways of allowing people to remain living in their own home longer.”

“We are on the cusp of a massive national increase in demand for aged care services, and I fear that unless we find creative solutions to meet this demand – such as we have announced today – we will be unable to manage.”

Feros Care’s new “Gateway” utilises advances in communication technology to create a central management and administration centre, providing a single point of call for the delivery of their 17 types of aged care services across Northern New South Wales and South East Queensland.

This central communication hub allows for the delivery of high quality aged care across a wider geographical area, eliminating excessive infrastructure costs which have traditionally been an obstacle in the establishment of aged care services.

PHOTO: Federal Minister for Ageing, The Hon. Justine Elliot, MP & Federal Shadow Minister for Ageing, Margaret May, MP with Feros Care CEO Jennene Buckley at Feros Care

Feros Care also received Organisation of the Year from the Not-For-Profit Network, as well as the Project of the Year for its Northern Rivers Primary Palliative Care Project.

The winner(s) will be announced on Friday, 14 November.

This award showcases the simple but smart use of technology at the Community Gateway which is a single point of entry connecting staff, services and care from Caboolture through to Coffs Harbour.

“The awards that Feros have won this year confirms that we are definitely travelling down the right path”, said Feros’ General Manager for Community Services, Gabriele Taylor.