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The Community Visitors Scheme Handbook for Subsidised Aged Care Homes

The Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) is a federally-funded program, established to promote links between people living in an aged care home and the wider community.

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PDF printable version of The Community Visitors Scheme Handbook for Subsidised Aged Care Homes (PDF 67 KB)

ISBN: 1-74186-440-2
Online ISBN: 1-74186-441-0
Publications Approval Number: P3-2653

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© Commonwealth of Australia 2007

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© Commonwealth of Australia 2007

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Introduction – What is the Community Visitors Scheme?
What Legislation Supports the CVS?
What are Auspice Organisations?
Role of Aged Care Homes in the CVS
Important Advice – Notification of the Resident’s Illness or Death
Other Responsibilities of the Aged Care Home
The Community Visitor’s Background and Orientation
Veto Rights
What the Community Visitor Does
What a Community Visitor Cannot Do
Information to be Provided to the Home
Handling Disputes
More Information
Resident Profile - form available via the PDF printable version
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Introduction – What is the Community Visitors Scheme?

The objective of the Community Visitors Scheme (CVS) is to provide one on one volunteer visitors to residents of Australian Government subsidised aged care homes who are socially isolated and whose quality of life would be improved by friendship and companionship.

The CVS is an Australian Government funded program. The Scheme is funded through grants provided to approved community-based organisations (auspices) participating in the Scheme. These auspices administer the CVS in a particular geographic area. The grant may be used for such items as administrative costs including staff salaries, recruitment and training of volunteers, insurance premiums and audit fees, and travel costs. Some auspices use grant monies to reimburse volunteers’ travel and other costs, while other auspices opt for an alternative policy in line with the CVS Guidelines. You should be aware of your local auspice’s policy on volunteer cost reimbursement.

The success of the CVS depends on auspices, visitors and aged care homes working together.

What Legislation Supports the CVS?

The CVS is a component of the Australian Government’s User Rights Strategy for residents of aged care homes. The legislative basis for the CVS is the Grants section of the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act), Part 5.6, which allows for the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a body corporate for the purposes of:

a) facilitating frequent and regular contact with the community by care recipients to whom residential care is provided;

b) helping such care recipients to maintain independence through contact with people in the community;

c) assisting such care recipients from particular linguistic or cultural backgrounds to maintain contact with people from similar backgrounds (Section 82-1).

In supporting the CVS, the home is fulfilling the requirements of the legislation to facilitate regular contact with the community, helping to maintain residents’ independence through this contact, and ensuring that residents from diverse backgrounds do not become isolated from their community and culture.

Homes also have a responsibility under the Act to meet the Accreditation Standards. The Accreditation Standards relating to Resident Lifestyle requires the home to ensure that residents receive emotional support in adjusting to life in the home, and must be assisted to achieve maximum independence, maintain friendships and participate in the life of the community within and outside the home. The CVS can be a way of helping residents to achieve these benefits.

Another of the Resident Lifestyle principles states that a resident’s interests, customs, beliefs and cultural and ethnic backgrounds are valued. Most CVS auspices offer general services, while some focus on people of particular ethnic backgrounds. Within the CVS network, help is available where a visitor of a particular background would be useful in assisting a resident maintain contact with their ethnic community, and could prevent such a resident from becoming isolated by their language or background.

The Act also specifies the general responsibilities relating to user rights. This includes the requirement of an approved provider of residential aged care to “allow people acting for care recipients to have such access to the service as is specified in the User Rights Principles” (Section 56-1(j)). The Aged Care Act Principles specify that the "approved provider must allow a person acting for an authorised body to have access to the residential care service: during normal business hours; or, if a care recipient, or a care recipient’s representative, has asked for a person acting for the authorised body to assist the care recipient – at any time"
(Section 23.1).

For aged care homes, the implication of this directive is that community visitors and Coordinators be allowed access to the home in line with their respective roles and the residents’ wishes.
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What are Auspice Organisations?

Auspices are the community-based organisations that are funded by the Australian Government to administer the CVS. There are two types of CVS auspice – those referred to as generic auspices, which support residents of all backgrounds, where possible; and ethno-specific or Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) auspices which provide services to residents of particular cultural or linguistic backgrounds.

If you identify residents who would benefit from involvement in the CVS, please consider participating in the Scheme. The benefits to the resident are considerable, with associated increases in self-esteem and well-being.

Aged care homes need to be aware of the CVS auspices operating in the area. If you would like more information about auspices in your area, call your Commonwealth Carelink Centre on 1800 052 222, or call the Department of Health and Ageing in your state.

Role of Aged Care Homes in the CVS

The aged care home is required to provide assistance to the CVS in several ways. The first of these is in identifying residents who may benefit from having a community visitor.

The CVS assists isolated residents of aged care homes whose quality of life would be improved by friendship and companionship. This may include:

• • residents who do not have regular and reasonably frequent contact with friends or relatives from outside the facility;
• • residents who do not have contact with friends or relatives on a one-to-one basis;
• • indigenous residents and residents from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds who experience isolation from their culture or heritage;
• • other residents for whom isolation is a difficulty.

This could include:

• people whose quality of life is not enhanced by the visits they receive;
• people who feel very isolated or lonely who would benefit from contact;
• people whose frailty or mobility or communication impairments prevent them from participating in social or leisure opportunities;
• people whose social isolation is increased because they differ in some way from other residents.

The priority for a community visitor may need to be established when receiving an application. Consideration should be given to the presence of a combination of isolating factors, or to the experience of isolation and loneliness being particularly strong.

The primary objective of the CVS is social. Any resident whose quality of life would be improved by the companionship of a community visitor can be referred to the CVS. The manager of the aged care home should take into account the level of isolation of a resident when recommending them for a community visitor.

When a resident is identified as being suitable for receiving a community visitor, the manager of the home should refer the name of the resident to the Coordinator of their local auspice. If occupational therapists, assistants and other members of staff think that a resident would benefit from a CVS volunteer, they are asked to bring this to the attention of the manager. The referral should include information about the resident that will assist the Coordinator to match the resident with a suitable visitor – such things as background, interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes, communication difficulties, languages spoken and so on. A sample of a proforma for resident referrals, developed by the Department of Health and Ageing, is included at the back of this book. Auspices may elaborate on this proforma or develop their own proforma for this purpose.

In some cases, where the resident is from a specific cultural or linguistic background, there may be an ethnic-specific auspice operating in the state that is able to make an appropriate match for the resident. Alternatively, the local generic auspice may attempt to find a suitable visitor for the resident.

It is possible that the auspice may not be able to match the resident with a suitable visitor immediately. The auspice will maintain a waiting list in these circumstances, and attempt to match the resident with a visitor at the earliest opportunity.
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Important Advice – Notification of the Resident’s Illness or Death

Homes are encouraged, where possible, to inform the Coordinator at the relevant CVS auspice when a resident with a community visitor passes away or is taken seriously ill (as the visitor may wish to visit the resident at the hospital). This is to enable the Co-ordinator to notify the visitor and support them through the ensuing processes.

Homes have certain responsibilities under section 62-1 of the Aged Care Act 1997 in relation to the protection of personal information, so need to exercise caution when considering this action.

If you have residents who receive CVS services, it would be prudent to discuss with them the level of information they wish you to disclose to the CVS visitor and seek their consent at an early stage.

Other Responsibilities of the Aged Care Home

Aged care homes have other responsibilities in relation to the CVS. These include:

• welcoming, encouraging and supporting the community visitor;
• providing the Coordinator with information on policy and procedures that the visitor might need to know;
• whilst you should have regard for the resident’s privacy, you should provide the visitor with information on the resident’s needs (including relevant medical information, if necessary to ensure appropriate precautions) to enable the visitor to meet their duty of care obligation.

Useful information provided to visitors might include a tour of the facility, evacuation and emergency procedures, door access codes and so on.

The home should ensure that its staff are aware of residents who are receiving visits and the names of the visitors, and appropriate introductions should be made. Staff of the home should let visitors know if the resident they are visiting has any conditions that require special consideration, and any other information that would assist them in meeting their duty of care. Staff should also let visitors know if the home has any special operational requirements such as signing a visitors’ book or requiring prior notification of any outings planned.

The home needs to nominate a contact person for the CVS coordinator to work with. This may be the Manager / Director of Nursing, Diversional Therapist or another nominated person. A contact person must also be nominated for out of office hours – this could be the Charge Nurse or other officer of the home who is available at these times.

You should let the visitor know what times are most convenient for visiting the resident. Although in some cases, community visitors may be at liberty to visit at any time, and may always have access to the facility during normal business hours, it is reasonable to attempt to arrange visits for a time suitable to the home and its staff, where possible. Times should be arranged to meet the needs of the resident, the visitor, the staff and the home.

Notification of the resident’s family that their relative has a community visitor is at the discretion of the home. The home should consider whether such notification would be appropriate based on their knowledge of the circumstances.

The Community Visitor’s Background and Orientation

Before visiting in the home, the community visitor’s suitability as a friend for a resident will be considered, and the Coordinator will have provided the community visitor with an orientation to the program. This will include the community visitor having undergone a National Criminal History Record Check (commonly known as a Police Check) to assess their suitability to volunteer in aged care. When considering a suitable match for a resident, the Coordinator will have taken into account the volunteer’s abilities and skills, including their compatibility of interests with the resident, their social skills, the location of the home, and the ability of the volunteer to cope with the resident’s anticipated progression.

When the Coordinator orients a volunteer into the CVS, they will provide them with information on how disability could affect the relationship, including advice about dealing with relevant conditions such as dementia, stroke, emotional issues and so on. The visitor will have been informed of their duty of care and other occupational health and safety issues, and advised of their responsibilities in relation to the confidentiality and privacy of matters relating to their matched resident.

Veto Rights

The home has the right to veto a community visitor at any time, if they consider that visitor to be unsuitable and the resident visited is unable to make an informed decision. If the visitor is vetoed in this way, the Coordinator will establish the reasons for veto and seek to nominate another, more suitable visitor.

What the Community Visitor Does

Community visitors must visit their designated resident at least once a fortnight, except when they are sick or are on holidays, or unable to visit due to some exceptional circumstance. The visit is to provide companionship and friendship and to provide a social interest.

The visitor must also provide a record of the dates of visits to the Coordinator; respect the rights of the residents; exercise duty of care at all times; and communicate to their Coordinator any difficulties or other issues they encounter in visiting the resident.
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What a Community Visitor Cannot Do

There are certain things that a community visitor is not permitted to do. A community visitor may not:

• monitor standards provided at a residential aged care facility;
• be involved in investigating or following up complaints;
• displace relationships between the resident and their family, staff or other relationships;
• have access to residents’ care or personal records or become involved in the financial affairs of the resident;
• provide nursing or personal care to the resident ;
• interfere with or have any involvement in the day-to-day running of the residential aged care facility;
• replace nursing, activities or therapy staff in residential aged care facilities;
• visit other residents without the approval of the Community Visitors Scheme Coordinator.

Information to be Provided to the Home

When a community visitor is matched with a resident of your home, you will be given an indication of the likely visiting times (for example, whether visits will take place at a regular time). You will also be provided with the visitor’s contact details with the agreement of the visitor. The Coordinator will advise you of your responsibilities in relation to the Scheme and will remind you of your right to veto the visitor, should the resident be unable to make an informed decision.

The Coordinator will also ask you to contact them if you have any concerns, and most importantly to let them know at the earliest opportunity if the resident is unable to be visited or has died.

It is suggested staff of the home be made aware, in writing, that the resident has a visitor.

On their first visit to the home, the visitor will provide you with a Letter of Introduction signed by the coordinator, which indicates they have undergone a Police Check and has been assessed as suitable to be a volunteer in an aged care home. This letter includes the expiry date of the Police Check.

Handling Disputes

Community visitors are not permitted to investigate or follow up on complaints, and are advised to contact their Coordinator should issues relating to the resident arise. Coordinators will contact the aged care home where appropriate to liaise with the home’s management.

If a home is concerned about the performance of a community visitor, they should contact the Coordinator to discuss the matter.

More Information

Further information on the CVS is available from the Department of Health and Ageing in your State or Territory.
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