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16 September 2025
Stories
| Home Care
After a dementia diagnosis, people often need information to help them and their carers understand the condition and find services that support independence at home.
In this article, you’ll discover:
Living with dementia can be challenging, but you don’t have to face it alone. Support at home is currently available through government-funded programs such as Home Care Packages (HCP) and the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP). From 1 November 2025, HCP will move to the Support at Home model under the new Aged Care Act, designed to make services simpler and more flexible.
BaptistCare at home provides a range of support to help people living with dementia remain safe and independent. Care workers assist with daily routines through practical help and personal care, while nurses monitor health, manage medications and offer carers valuable advice. Allied health professionals also play a key role: physiotherapists support mobility, balance and strength with tailored exercise programs and occupational therapists provide memory strategies, cognitive reablement and simple home modifications to enhance safety, independence and overall quality of life.
BaptistCare at home also offers Refresh Retreats – three-day, two-night getaways for people living with dementia, and their carers. Held in home-like settings, Refresh Retreats offer the opportunity to pause, learn and feel supported, free of charge, thanks to funding from the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Pauline and Robert’s story shows what this can look like in practice – and how it offers support, reassurance and a renewed sense of hope.
Pauline has been the primary carer for her husband, Robert, who lives with dementia, since his diagnosis. Determined to help him stay strong, she set up an exercise program. But Robert’s lack of enthusiasm made it hard to keep going. “It became really arduous for me,” she recalls.
That’s when Robert’s geriatrician suggested home care. The couple chose BaptistCare at home, and when regular visits began in late 2024, Pauline saw how even small moments made a difference. “The care workers would say things like, ‘Would you like a hand putting your shoes on, Rob?’ And he’d say no. Pride wouldn’t let him accept help and that meant he did it for himself. Before, I would have done it for him.”
Alongside the care workers, a BaptistCare nurse became an important part of Robert’s support, checking in and monitoring his cognitive health.
Pauline was also pleased to find exercise ideas in the BaptistCare at home booklet and asked Robert’s care worker to help continue the program she had started. Robert became more willing and more involved.
Soon after, a physiotherapist from BaptistCare’s Allied Health program joined his care team to review and oversee adjustments to his exercise routine. “I really loved that support for what I was already doing,” Pauline says.
So, when the physiotherapist suggested the couple attend one of BaptistCare's Refresh Retreats in Port Macquarie, the answer was a resounding yes!
While Pauline joined sessions on understanding dementia, navigating support services and planning future care, along with self-care, stress management and keeping loved ones active, Robert took part in a program of tailored activities and received compassionate care from the BaptistCare at home team.
Pauline says what she was looking for was information, tools and insights into the effectiveness of the care she was giving Robert, adding that she regularly asks herself, “How can I implement things that will make his journey, and therefore our journey, better?”
She says the Refresh Retreats facilitator was incredibly knowledgeable. “We received a whole lot of information. I haven’t even looked at some of it yet because we’re not at that stage – but dementia can move quickly. You might need certain information in six months, or you might need it in three.”
Several practical insights have made their way home, such as colour-coded coat hangers to simplify Robert’s morning routine. Pauline also plans to install automatic lights in their next home to help him move safely at night.
Before retirement, Rob ran an industrial equipment company, buying and selling and dealing with customers. “He wouldn’t have played board games or cards or anything like that,” Pauline says, “But at the retreat he did. It opened my eyes because he would never attempt things like that before.”
She believes people sometimes tie their identity to past abilities and may not explore what they still can do or try new things. “The retreat reminded Robert he’s still capable. There was something holding him back from doing things before he went. The retreat enabled him, it was a confidence shift.”
Robert had also experienced depression, and Pauline – with a background in banking not aged care – had sometimes struggled with how best to help. Since attending the Refresh Retreat, she’s noticed a lift in his mood and can't remember him being depressed in the last six months.
“He actually helps me around the house now. He offers to do things for me – I used to have to ask him to help and I hated doing that.”
After the Refresh Retreat, Pauline says she felt energised and reassured that she’s on the right path. Rediscovering life balance was one of the most valuable takeaways, especially as she still works three days a week at age 70.
“I felt I had to be everything to everybody every day,” she says. “The retreat helped me to see how important it is to balance what I need to do – how much will go to Rob, how much will go to me and how much will go to the other people that I still serve.”
Another benefit was the confidence it gave her in the care she was providing. “I'm not questioning what I'm doing now,” she says. “I felt all the hard work I had done in the previous six months came together, to validate what I was doing, to validate what Rob was doing.”
Today, Robert continues to receive BaptistCare at home services, including fortnightly games of pool with a care worker, which Pauline says helps keep both body and brain active. “He’s using his mind, hands and legs – there’s a lot that goes on in a game of pool when you break it down.”
Robert's BaptistCare at home nurse continues to track his cognition between the geriatrician’s assessments and while Robert recently received a good cognitive score, Pauline recognises that the journey ahead will require ongoing adjustment.
“I suspect when Robert comes off this plateau, I'll have to adjust,” she says. “But I think I’ll be able to take that moment to balance myself and consider what we need to change or improve.”
She says the support she and Robert have received has been invaluable. “Now I know BaptistCare is there, the Refresh Retreats are there. It’s that sense of knowing you are already on the right track and then gaining extra help in a few areas, which is so very welcome.”
With BaptistCare at home, you need never feel alone. Our care workers, nurses, allied health team and Refresh Retreats provide dementia support that helps people stay independent at home and gives carers peace of mind
