HOMECALL
TODAY
What do we do?
Before they are
‘introduced’ to a client, a visitor undertakes a two-hour training session.
Typically, visitors help their clients by filling in forms; personal shopping;
undertaking small household tasks; reading/writing correspondence; finding lost
items and taking them on outings.
Each ‘matching’ is monitored closely: visitors are required to submit reports
and Coordinators periodically ring or visit clients to review the matching.
Visitors are recruited via Volunteer Bureaux, local press publicity and
advertisements, parish magazines, postcards in shops and talks. A visitor may
be matched with more than one client. Clients are derived from a variety of
referral sources – principally,
Social Services, other charities for the
visually impaired, GP surgeries, other health services,“self”
and Age Concern.
Why we do it
Most of our clients are over 85years of age. Most do
not have relatives living nearby and are socially and/or geographically
isolated.
Homecall helps them to maintain their independence and
stay in their own homes.
Although established originally to benefit blind and partially sighted people –
regardless of whether or not they choose to register with Social Services – one
unintended social benefit of Homecall’s service has been to relieve the
pressure on residential and nursing homes and help to alleviate ‘bed blocking’.
Homecall currently
maintains a visitor list of over 330 and a client list of over 400 throughout
Because it is known that a significant number of older people prefer not to register as blind or partially-sighted (and therefore do not show up in Social Services statistics), it is difficult to determine the level of unmet demand. However, it is estimated that one in five people will eventually suffer from visual impairment.