Abstracts & Presentation Summaries - Department of Health

Good Practice & Innovative Service Models Concurrent Sessions
Session 3 — Special Needs Groups—
Homeless/Supported Residential Services Residents
Marie Hapke, Team Leader Special Needs Arts & Recreation, City of Port Phillip
SRS Social Support & Recreation Development Project
(Port Phillip, Stonnington, Glen Eira, Bayside, Kingston)
This project addresses the constraints on access to social support and recreation
opportunities for residents of SRSs, with and emphasis on those living in
pension-only SRSs. The approach is service system development.
Background to the Project
SRS residents in pension-only SRSs
Within the Cities of Port Phillip and Stonnington there are a large number of
pension-only SRSs. Generally the residents of these SRSs experience a number of
health, disability and social problems, with a high incidence of chronic mental health
issues, trauma and/or substance related ABI, intellectual disability and
social/behavioural issues, as well as ageing issues. The age range of residents is
typically lower that in more traditional supported residential services, with a small
number of people in their 20s, a substantial proportion aged 30–60, as well as a
significant number of people over 60 years.
The age and disability profile of these residents creates a complex care environment
in the SRSs, which being pension-only, have very limited resources to provide any
additional activities- there is a significant need for recreation and social support
activities for these residents, many of whom feel there are few peers in their ‘home’
setting.
Issues in planning activities for SRS residents
A number of issues have emerged over time, including difficulties promoting
activities through SRS proprietors, clashes with other activities provided through
other services, and sense that access to activities for residents was very uneven, in
that some residents were involved with a number of activities, while many others
appeared to have very little access to activities. There was no systematic coordination
around information about what activities were being provided, and this was an
impediment to coordinating the planning of any new activities to ensure that they
were complementary to the existing activities. These issues relate to the fragmented
nature of the service system around SRS residents, and a resulting lack of
coordination and information sharing.
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