Worried About Your Aging Parents? Here's Where to Start
If your mum or dad is getting a bit older and things are starting to get harder, you're not alone. Maybe you've noticed they need a lift to the GP now, or the garden's gotten away from them, or they just seem a little more forgetful. A lot of families going through this in Melbourne haven't even heard of My Aged Care, the Australian Government system that helps older people get support at home.
What is My Aged Care?
My Aged Care is the government's starting point for aged care services in Australia. It can help your parents get things like:
Help around the house (cleaning, gardening, meal prep, grocery shopping including trips to Japanese grocery stores)
Transport to appointments
Personal care support
Social support and transport to visit friends, to help with loneliness and social isolation
Nursing and allied health services
The tricky part? The registration and assessment process is all in English, involves phone interviews, and can feel confusing. This is especially true if English isn't your parents' first language, or if dementia is starting to make things harder to follow.
Why This Matters Even More for Japanese Speaking Families
If one of your parents is Japanese and English was never their strongest language, this gets harder as they age. Many people who spoke English comfortably for decades find that, especially with memory changes, Japanese becomes the language they're most comfortable in again. Trying to navigate My Aged Care in English at that point just adds stress, for them and for you.
This is where I can help. I run Hikaru Care Services and support Japanese speaking elderly clients around Melbourne, in both Japanese and English. I can help with:
Explaining how My Aged Care works, in plain Japanese or English
Helping with the registration and assessment process
Ongoing support once services are approved
Not Sure Where to Start? That's Okay.
Especially if you don't live near your parents, it's hard to know how much help they actually need, or how to even begin the conversation. You don't need to have it all figured out before reaching out. Feel free to get in touch and we can talk through what might help your parents feel more supported and comfortable at home.
Get in touch: hikaru@hikaru-careservices.com