Skip to content Skip to navigation
MENU
COTA Victoria Logo
Login
Get Involved
Home CLOSE
MENU
  • About
    About
    CLOSE MENU
    • Annual reports and financial statements
    • Board of Governance
    • Contact Us
    • Work with us
      • Current Job Opportunities
    • Our supporters
    • COTA Victoria Privacy Statement
  • Policy
    Policy
    CLOSE MENU
    • Our policy priorities
      • 2022 State Election: Make Victoria Age Friendly
      • Investing in Older Victorians
    • Policy positions
    • Stories of Change
    • Policy Development Committee (PDC)
    • Aged Care
      • Telling your story
    • Assistive Technology for All
    • Ageism in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
    • Elder Abuse
    • Social Isolation
    • Submissions
    • End of life
    • COTA Green Sages
  • Information
    Information
    CLOSE MENU
    • Looking for information?
    • COVID-19 resources for older Victorians
    • COTA WISE services
    • Aged Care Navigators
    • How-to guides
    • It’s Your Energy - New Energy Rights for Victorians
    • Resources
  • News
    News
    CLOSE MENU
    • Latest News
    • Media
      • Media Releases
    • COTA Connects
      • COTA Connects Archive
      • Sign-up for e-Newsletter
    • ONE COTA magazine
  • Events
  • Our Programs
    Our Programs
    CLOSE MENU
    • Living Longer Living Stronger
      • Find a Living Longer Living Stronger program in your area
      • Living Longer Living Stronger Online
      • Exercising at home
        • Random Acts of Exercise
      • Living Longer Living Stronger providers and instructors
    • Older Men: New Ideas (OM:NI) men’s discussion groups
    • Employment Support
      • Women Working Together
      • Locals Working Together
    • Victorian Seniors Festival
      • Victorian Senior of the Year Awards
      • Victorian Senior of the Year Awards - 2021
    • COTA Cycling
  • About
  • Policy
  • Information
  • News
  • Events
  • Our Programs
  • Login
About
  • Annual reports and financial statements
  • Board of Governance
  • Contact Us
  • Work with us
  • Our supporters
  • COTA Victoria Privacy Statement
Work with us
  • Current Job Opportunities
Policy
  • Our policy priorities
  • Policy positions
  • Stories of Change
  • Policy Development Committee (PDC)
  • Aged Care
  • Assistive Technology for All
  • Ageism in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Elder Abuse
  • Social Isolation
  • Submissions
  • End of life
  • COTA Green Sages
Our policy priorities
  • 2022 State Election: Make Victoria Age Friendly
  • Investing in Older Victorians
Aged Care
  • Telling your story
Information
  • Looking for information?
  • COVID-19 resources for older Victorians
  • COTA WISE services
  • Aged Care Navigators
  • How-to guides
  • It’s Your Energy - New Energy Rights for Victorians
  • Resources
News
  • Latest News
  • Media
  • COTA Connects
  • ONE COTA magazine
Media
  • Media Releases
COTA Connects
  • COTA Connects Archive
  • Sign-up for e-Newsletter
Our Programs
  • Living Longer Living Stronger
  • Older Men: New Ideas (OM:NI) men’s discussion groups
  • Employment Support
  • Victorian Seniors Festival
  • COTA Cycling
Living Longer Living Stronger
  • Find a Living Longer Living Stronger program in your area
  • Living Longer Living Stronger Online
  • Exercising at home
  • Living Longer Living Stronger providers and instructors
Exercising at home
  • Random Acts of Exercise
Employment Support
  • Women Working Together
  • Locals Working Together
Victorian Seniors Festival
  • Victorian Senior of the Year Awards
  • Victorian Senior of the Year Awards - 2021

Helping the Deaf community navigate aged care

14 June 202214/06/2022
Accessibility, Aged Care
Helping the Deaf community navigate aged care preview image

The John Pierce Centre in Prahran recently approached COTA Victoria, looking for ways to support its Deaf senior group members to access aged care services.

For the signing Deaf community, contact with My Aged Care is very limited. Some Deaf seniors can’t read, meaning printed information is inaccessible. Those who can’t register with My Aged Care online must contact by phone, relying on the National Relay Service or help from a family member or friend. Deaf seniors must give their approval before a family member or friend can speak on their behalf. This alone can be a challenge without access to information in Auslan.

To help, we put together a presentation for John Pierce Centre staff, explaining My Aged Care and how COTA Victoria’s Age Care System Navigator team could work with the Centre’s clients. We worked with Auslan interpreters to deliver the presentation.

Again, with Auslan interpreters’ assistance, we presented directly to 45 Deaf seniors. The interactive session looked at My Aged Care, the types of support available, and how to register for services. Several attendees got on-the-spot answers to their questions, while others made appointments for more in-depth face-to-face support.

Although we discovered that several attendees were already registered with My Aged Care, they weren’t sure when or how this had happened or what services they were registered for or could access. Our Navigators were able to explain how to communicate their support needs to My Aged Care.

Working with the Deaf community has reaffirmed how important it is to offer face-to-face information in a familiar environment. We’ve also been reminded of the importance of community partnerships. According to Carmel Phillips, Executive Officer of the John Pierce Centre:

‘The knowledge and assistance the service provided our members has been invaluable. Connecting face-to-face removes the frustration often experienced when dealing with a system that is already complex. It also allows the ACSN Team to gauge that the information has been understood and our members are confident with decisions they may have to make.’

For more information about the Aged Care System Navigator service, contact COTA Victoria on 130013 50 90.

About the John Pierce Centre

Established in 1980, the John Pierce Centre (JPC) is an independent not-for-profit organisation that supports the needs and wellbeing of approximately 500 Deaf community members throughout Victoria. The majority of its members are aged over 50 years.

The Centre’s purpose is to empower all Deaf people and their families to live their lives to the full whilst honouring the traditions of the Catholic Church.

JPC delivers a range of programs to strengthen family relationships: assisting couples preparing for marriage, families experiencing parenting or schooling issues, supporting families to access welfare and health services, running information workshops and hosting social and family activities.

JPC also provides pastoral care for the more vulnerable and hosts regular special interest groups, including groups for seniors and Deaf men, an arts and crafts group and a Deaf-friendly playgroup for toddlers.

Deaf people

RELATED NEWS

CEO Message preview image

CEO Message

1 February 2023
Read more
Read more
New Parliament, renewed engagement preview image

New Parliament, renewed engagement

1 February 2023
Read more
Read more
Seniors Rights Victoria building relationships with the big banks to respond to financial abuse preview image

Seniors Rights Victoria building relationships with the big banks to respond to financial abuse

1 February 2023
Read more
Read more
SHARE THIS CONTENT:
COTA Victoria Logo
  • About
  • Policy
  • Information
  • News
  • Events
  • Our Programs
Registered charity
Follow on
Facebook
COTA FEDERATION
  • ACT
  • New South Wales
  • Northern Territory
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia
COTA Western Australia COTA Northern Territory COTA Queensland COTA New South Wales COTA ACT COTA Victoria COTA South Australia COTA Tasmania
Follow on
Twitter
GET INVOLVED
  • Sign up for E-News
  • Get Involved
  • COTA Insurance
  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Contact Us
Registered charity
TERMS PRIVACY CONTACT SITEMAP
© 2023 COTA Victoria ABN 81 960 500 420 WEB DESIGN CODE AND VISUAL
Back to top
All correspondence may also be collected and stored, particularly in regard to registrations, including Email. Any information collected by COTA Victoria is collected via correspondence from you or your organisation. This may be via the telephone, Email, mail, fax or directly through our website.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT