From the two nurses, Ruth Hay and Cheryl Chaplin, who started the service and are now its directors, it has grown into a 140-employee plus business with offices in Merimbula, Cooma and Moruya.

“We started out from our homes and were working with two very special DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) clients and it slowly grew,” Ms Chaplin said.

Now the business has 650 clients who might have anything from personal care, shopping, transport arrangement, palliative care, dementia support or respite care to help them in their day to day lives.

Changes to the way government allocates money and care packages has meant that similar to the NDIS, clients now have a far greater say in how the money is spent.

Socialisation is seen as an important factor in keeping older people mentally well and Ms Chaplin explained that could mean spending time playing chess or bridge or going fishing with a client who needs support to ensure they continue enjoy the activities that contribute to their wellbeing.

“This has been one of the major changes that I have seen.We have always operated that consumer-directed model but now the government is actually wanting us to do that,” Ms Chaplin said.

“A person who has a home care package can use it how they want. It’s about empowering people.

“20 years ago our client base was in their 70s, WWII veterans and often with a lot of ill-health. Someone over 80 was unusual. Now the majority are in their 90s. Medicine is keeping people well and independent for longer and so when we are supporting them they are frailer,” Ms Chaplin said.

Not that many years ago many of these people would have been in residential care but with the focus on keeping people at home for longer, the support services see more of the very elderly.

This is obviously set to increase as the main bulge of the baby boomer era reaches an age where support is needed but as Ms Chaplin points out, this is a group of people who will remain independent for longer and will most certainly be more independent in their thinking around aged care and support.

As Ms Chaplin said, some are still working at 70, going to the gym regularly and taking active holidays and so their needs may differ.

And as the age group has changed, so has technology for the home care industry. 

Ms Chaplin said they like to try and match staff and clients for similar interests to get the best results for everyone. However this can pose some interesting issues when trying to roster 140-150 staff from three offices for 650 clients.

“We now have a purpose built system that looks at the exceptions and helps us roster. We’re also using mobile apps when seeing clients which staff use to log their visit and the client signs to say they have received the services provided.

“We’re always embraced whatever came along,” Ms Chaplin said.

Now after 20 years, they are starting to see some of the sons and daughters of their first clients become clients themselves.