What is complex care?

Complex care needs refer to a situation where an individual has multiple interconnected challenges that significantly affect their overall well-being & societal functionality & participation. 

Complex care services are provided to people who may require a specialist level of support due to higher level medical needs in their daily lives; this includes acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy and other physical or neurological conditions. They may also require complex care support due to a change in personal circumstances, such as returning home after a long hospitalisation or after living in residential aged care. Every individual is different, and complex care covers a huge variety of services, from bed transfers to wound management.

While there are many everyday tasks that a support worker can help with, an individual with complex care needs may require certain services and supports that can only be provided by people with the appropriate skills and qualifications.  For example, a support worker can provide support to a person with specialised feeding requirements, such as percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding. However, the support worker needs to know (amongst other info) the function of the equipment components and what to do if the PEG tubes become dislodged.

Wanessa is our new Registered Nurse Manager; she has a background in Emergency, Critical Care, Intensive Care and five years working exclusively with costumers in need of complex care. She will play a key role in assessing the support needs to ensure they align with the customer’s desires, requirements, and goals. Our support workers undergo thorough training and competency assessment done by the Registered Nurse Manager prior to them delivering support to customers.