National Carers Week is held in October each year to recognise, celebrate and raise awareness about the 2.65 million Australians and 80,000 Tasmanians who provide care and support to a family member or friend.
During National Carers Week 2022, Carers Tasmania and Care2Serve coordinated a range of activities across the State.
A High Morning Tea was held at the Wrest Point Boardwalk Gallery in Hobart with special guest speaker Jean Kittson. Jean shared her experiences in caring for her elderly parents, with guests gifted a copy of Jean’s book “We Need to Talk about Mum and Dad”.
Jean participated in a range of media and social media activities including a Facebook Live Q&A with Peter Gee, the launch of the 1 in 6 Podcast on Facebook, and an Outside Broadcast with radio station 7HOFM in the Elizabeth Street Mall.
Awareness-raising stalls were located at six shopping centres across the State and Young Carer Day activities including Laser Tag sessions or Hyperdrive kart racing were attended by young carers aged 12 to 16 years.
Prominent landmarks in Hobart were lit up in cyan during Carers Week, an initiative that was adopted by a number of other States.
National Carers Week
Care2Serve delivers the Australian Government’s Carer Gateway service in Tasmania. The Carer Gateway program provides a range of services and supports for carers to build resilience, increase wellbeing, improve quality of life, and sustain carers to effectively continue their caring roles. This includes carer support planning process, professional counselling, peer support, and coaching to support carers in achieving specific goals.
Care2Serve, through the Carer Gateway, has the capacity to fund certain instances of planned, practical support services such as in-home respite, personal care, domestic assistance, and meal preparation. Care2Serve may also fund items such as laptops to assist carers who are studying or trying to enter the workforce. Care2Serve also coordinates the provision of emergency support during instances where a carer may be unable to provide the care that they usually do, resulting from unexpected illness or injury of the carer.
Each and every day, Carer Support Officers at Care2Serve work with carers to provide these supports. Our staff are professional, empathetic, and dedicated, as reflected by our overall Carer Gateway satisfaction score of 96.6% in 2022/23.
Care2Serve staff have organised retreats across the State, giving carers the opportunity to connect with other carers, learn new skills, and take some time out to relax. While at retreats, carers were able to participate in activities such as yoga, self-care, relaxation sessions and social activities. Many carers chose to remain connected with one another following retreats by coming together to form ongoing support groups, enabling further educational and social activities.
Care2Serve’s engagement team were out and about visiting regional locations in our mobile offices, connecting with local businesses and carers, raising awareness of the needs of carers and the ways in which Care2Serve can support carers. We attended many community events and expos, sector network meetings, and gave presentations to community service organisations, school and hospital staff statewide.
In March 2023, our team delivered Carer Expos in Hobart, Launceston and Devonport. Expos provided a range of guest speakers and trade tables from a cross-section of organisations, including condition-specific, chronic health, ageing, dementia, equipment services, advocacy and preventative health services.
Care2Serve delivers the Australian Government’s Carer Gateway service in Tasmania. The Carer Gateway program provides a range of services and supports for carers to build resilience, increase wellbeing, improve quality of life, and sustain carers to effectively continue their caring roles. This includes carer support planning process, professional counselling, peer support, and coaching to support carers in achieving specific goals.
Care2Serve, through the Carer Gateway, has the capacity to fund certain instances of planned, practical support services such as in-home respite, personal care, domestic assistance, and meal preparation. Care2Serve may also fund items such as laptops to assist carers who are studying or trying to enter the workforce. Care2Serve also coordinates the provision of emergency support during instances where a carer may be unable to provide the care that they usually do, resulting from unexpected illness or injury of the carer.
Each and every day, Carer Support Officers at Care2Serve work with carers to provide these supports. Our staff are professional, empathetic, and dedicated, as reflected by our overall Carer Gateway satisfaction score of 96.6% in 2022/23.
Care2Serve staff have organised retreats across the State, giving carers the opportunity to connect with other carers, learn new skills, and take some time out to relax. While at retreats, carers were able to participate in activities such as yoga, self-care, relaxation sessions and social activities. Many carers chose to remain connected with one another following retreats by coming together to form ongoing support groups, enabling further educational and social activities.
Care2Serve’s engagement team were out and about visiting regional locations in our mobile offices, connecting with local businesses and carers, raising awareness of the needs of carers and the ways in which Care2Serve can support carers. We attended many community events and expos, sector network meetings, and gave presentations to community service organisations, school and hospital staff statewide.
In March 2023, our team delivered Carer Expos in Hobart, Launceston and Devonport. Expos provided a range of guest speakers and trade tables from a cross-section of organisations, including condition-specific, chronic health, ageing, dementia, equipment services, advocacy and preventative health services.
Carer Gateway
Carer feedback on Care2Serve Carer Gateway services:
“Thank you so much for all your help. I can’t express enough my gratitude for all the support and kindness that you have all given me this week. It’s been an extremely tough two weeks for mum and me. Thank you again for your help and everyone at Care2Serve. If you can take a moment to appreciate yourself and pass my message of gratitude and appreciation to everyone else too, that’d be amazing. Forever grateful.”
“A huge thanks to … the team for the amazing work they did when we needed it the most. They were kind and courteous. Also a big thanks to …. did an amazing job especially by putting the program together.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, as I know this involved so much extra input and effort from you and it is so heartwarming to know you care so much.”
“Thank you very much for the marvellous support you have offered me throughout this very difficult period. Your wonderful support and caring nature are very appreciated.”
Care2Serve delivers a range of activities under the Tasmanian Government’s Home and Community Care Program. In 2022/23, a range of workshops and courses were delivered to support carers in their caring role, focusing on early intervention, physical and mental wellbeing, mindfulness, relaxation, first aid and mental health first aid. This year, we expanded our portfolio to include craft and art-based activities such as art and relaxation therapy, pottery and creative mindfulness.
Carers reported very high levels of satisfaction (92%) with activities offered in 2022/23.
Home and Community Care
To encourage Tasmanian carers to reach out for help, in 2022/23, Care2Serve invested in a number of communications campaigns.
The “I Asked for Help” campaign is an integrated 12-month campaign that tells the story of Tasmanians who have benefitted from services and programs accessed through the Carer Gateway. Over the campaign’s life, Tasmanians will learn the stories of Tasmanian carers who have benefitted from Carer Gateway and about the support that has made a real difference in their lives and those being cared for.
The campaign involves four 30-second television commercials and social media videos released over 12 months. The campaign includes press ads, bus backs, billboards and radio advertisements. The carers used in the campaign reflect the diverse nature of caring roles and the family/relationship situations they are in.
The campaign reach for 2022/23 was:
Communications
To encourage Tasmanian carers to reach out for help, in 2022/23, Care2Serve invested in a number of communications campaigns.
Podcast: The title of the podcast series, 1 in 6, reflects the ratio of carers in Tasmania. Tasmania has the highest ratio (over 80,000) of people caring for a family member, friend, or neighbour. The campaign oversaw a total of nine podcast episodes released over the two campaign phases. The podcast episode entailed stories from Tasmanian carers caring for someone with disability, frail aged, alcohol dependence, mental ill health and is palliative.
Carers Week Campaign: The Carers
Week campaign ran between 16 October and 29 October 2022 to promote the 30th anniversary of National Carers Week and increase awareness of Carer Gateway. The campaign was delivered on TV, Radio, Facebook and YouTube networks.
Young Carer Bursary Campaign: Our first-ever campaign focussing solely on young carers was called “Too much on your plate?” and ran between 2 August and 13 September 2022 when the Young Carer Bursary application was open. After thorough research, Tik Tok was identified as the most appropriate platform to reach young carers. The campaign showcased several items stacked on top of a plate, such as schoolbooks, medications, dirty laundry, and household bills, and asked young carers to get help and apply for a young carer bursary. The campaign received 489,333 impressions, 320,689 video views, and 18,226 link clicks. This campaign was an overall success, as reflected by the 112 bursary applications received in 2022/23, Tasmania’s highest number ever received.
Carer Gateway Winter Campaign – Carers COVID Campaign: The Carers COVID campaign aimed to increase awareness about the free support carers can access via Carer Gateway. It prompted carers to contact Carer Gateway if COVID has impacted their ability to care. The Carers COVID Winter campaign ran over three months (June, July, August) and consisted of a combination of television and radio advertisements. A total of 1,142 spots were aired on 7TAS, TDT10, WIN TV, and SBS. Radio advertisements consisted of 65 advertisements on 7HOFM Hobart, LA FM Launceston and Chilli FM Launceston.
To encourage Tasmanian carers to reach out for help, in 2022/23, Care2Serve invested in a number of communications campaigns.
Podcast: The title of the podcast series, 1 in 6, reflects the ratio of carers in Tasmania. Tasmania has the highest ratio (over 80,000) of people caring for a family member, friend, or neighbour. The campaign oversaw a total of nine podcast episodes released over the two campaign phases. The podcast episode entailed stories from Tasmanian carers caring for someone with disability, frail aged, alcohol dependence, mental ill health and is palliative.
Carers Week Campaign: The Carers
Week campaign ran between 16 October and 29 October 2022 to promote the 30th anniversary of National Carers Week and increase awareness of Carer Gateway. The campaign was delivered on TV, Radio, Facebook and YouTube networks.
Young Carer Bursary Campaign: Our first-ever campaign focussing solely on young carers was called “Too much on your plate?” and ran between 2 August and 13 September 2022 when the Young Carer Bursary application was open. After thorough research, Tik Tok was identified as the most appropriate platform to reach young carers. The campaign showcased several items stacked on top of a plate, such as schoolbooks, medications, dirty laundry, and household bills, and asked young carers to get help and apply for a young carer bursary. The campaign received 489,333 impressions, 320,689 video views, and 18,226 link clicks. This campaign was an overall success, as reflected by the 112 bursary applications received in 2022/23, Tasmania’s highest number ever received.
Carer Gateway Winter Campaign – Carers COVID Campaign: The Carers COVID campaign aimed to increase awareness about the free support carers can access via Carer Gateway. It prompted carers to contact Carer Gateway if COVID has impacted their ability to care. The Carers COVID Winter campaign ran over three months (June, July, August) and consisted of a combination of television and radio advertisements. A total of 1,142 spots were aired on 7TAS, TDT10, WIN TV, and SBS. Radio advertisements consisted of 65 advertisements on 7HOFM Hobart, LA FM Launceston and Chilli FM Launceston.
