Survey reveals respite need is growing
14 April 2011
More than 80 Karingal participants and carers took part in a state-wide survey, which revealed a greater need for respite services.
This survey was developed by National Disability Services Victoria and theDepartment of Human Services as part of a respite use and demand project.
Karingal Community Living Service Development Manager Meg Parsons said while those surveyed were happy with the quality of respite offered by Karingal, they clearly stated they wanted more.
“Respondents also stated that they would really like more respite on weekends and for emergencies,” she said.
“People also commented that it was hard for carers to plan their lives around when respite was available.”
Karingal continues to offer flexible responses to respite requests such as weekend group activities, pooling of respite and creative responses in times of emergency, but Meg said it was difficult to meet the increasing need for respite.
Client satisfaction survey tells positive story
The annual Karingal Client Satisfaction survey has delivered positive results, with those surveyed indicating they received excellent or good service from the organisation.
“Staff were mostly rated from good to excellent in all performance related questions,” Meg said.
“Respondents were satisfied with the amount of information they receive about Karingal.”
Areas for improvement include some areas of communication; and raising awareness with clients and carers about ‘how to have your say at Karingal”.
The survey is a requirement of Karingal’s DHS Quality Accreditation and the TAC contract.
Service users indicated in 2009 that they would prefer to be surveyed by phone rather than in mail outs.
The client satisfaction survey was conducted by phone in the latter half of 2010 with 100 per cent of people phoned consenting to take part in the survey.