Personal Alert Victoria Information for Potential Clients & Nominated Contacts

Page content: Overview | How PAV works | Your daily call | What happens when the alarm is activated? | Who does Personal Alert Victoria assist? | How to access Personal Alert Victoria | Who is eligible for Personal Alert Victoria? | Can non-English speaking people use the service? | Client rights & responsibilities | Nominated contacts rights & responsibilities | Consent & contact details form | For further information

Overview

Personal Alert Victoria (PAV) gives you confidence to live independently in your own home by providing contact 24 hours a day. Simply pressing the button on a lightweight pendant will trigger contact to the service, which will then contact your nominated relative, friend or neighbour (nominated contact) or a response service. You will need to nominate three to four contacts that can get to you within 30 minutes.

The Victorian Government funds this personal monitoring service free of charge for eligible clients. There may be a waiting time until a funded unit becomes available.

How PAV works

The PAV service has three important components:

1. The pendant is normally worn around the neck or wrist. When you press the button on the pendant it activates the receiver unit.
2. The receiver unit is plugged into your telephone line. It receives the signal from the pendant then automatically dials the monitoring centre.
3. The monitoring centre is a central facility where trained staff respond to your call for assistance. This monitoring centre operates 24 hours a day, every day.

Once they receive your call, PAV staff will get in touch with your nominated contact (relative, friend or neighbour) who can get to you within 30 minutes. If you don’t have a contact person, you may be registered with the Government funded Home and Community Care (HACC) Response Service, which will respond to your call for assistance. You will need to make keys available to your nominated contacts or to the HACC Response Service so that they can enter your home in the event of your call.

Your daily call

Your receiver unit has a daily call button. You are required to press this button by a set time each day. Pressing the daily call button lets the monitoring centre staff know that you are all right. If you do not press the daily call button, the monitoring centre staff will telephone you to check that you are okay. If they are unable to speak to you, they will notify your nominated contact to check on you.

Daily calls also confirm that the equipment is working properly.

What happens when the alarm is activated?

When the alarm is activated the monitoring centre staff will call and attempt to speak with you to establish what assistance you need. If necessary, they will:

• telephone your nominated contacts or HACC Response Service
• contact emergency services

Who does Personal Alert Victoria assist?

The service assists frail, older people and people with a disability who live in their own home and are isolated and vulnerable without monitoring and support. The service assists people to:

• live more actively and improve their independence and dignity
• have a greater potential to cope at home
• increase their confidence to better perform activities of daily living
• be less reliant on home care, medical care and other care at home

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How to access Personal Alert Victoria

To use the service you must be assessed as eligible. You can contact PAV yourself or be referred by your doctor or a health and community service. Designated PAV assessment agencies are generally your local council, community health service, aged care assessment service, and some public funded community rehabilitation centres.

Once you are assessed as eligible for the service, your details will be forwarded to the PAV service provider. You may be placed on a waiting list.

Once a PAV unit becomes available, the PAV service will arrange a suitable time to install the unit and teach you how to use it.

If you need to be registered with the HACC Response Service, this will be determined during your PAV assessment. A separate home visit will be made by the HACC Response Service to register you with the service and discuss access to your home.

Who is eligible for Personal Alert Victoria?

From 1 May 2008, to be eligible for the PAV service you must meet the following criteria.

Mandatory criteria – you must meet ALL of these (1, 2 & 3):

1. You agree to daily monitoring.
2. You are capable of using and willing to wear the PAV pendant at all times.
3. You live alone OR are alone for most of the day or evening OR live with a person who would be unable to get to the phone in an emergency or is unable to use the phone.

Other criteria - You must meet 2 of these (4, 5 & 6):

4. You have experienced at least one fall that has required medical attention in the previous six months.
5. You suffer from a major medical or chronic condition that puts you at risk of medical emergencies or has some ongoing effect on your health or well-being.
6. You are taking six (6) or more different medications on a permanent basis that are prescribed by your medical practitioner/doctor.

If you are not eligible for Personal Alert Victoria

If you are not eligible for the PAV service, a number of personal assistance call services are listed in the Yellow Pages under ‘Alerting Systems and/or Services’ that you may wish to contact.

Can non-English speaking people use the service?

Yes. PAV service providers can use interpreters and family contacts through the phone system when they are talking to you. If you wish, the assessment agency can also arrange an interpreter to be present at the assessment.

Client rights & responsibilities

Personal Alert Victoria (PAV) relies on you nominating relatives and friends to act as contacts when you call for assistance. You need to nominate three or four contacts. Where you cannot be supported by nominated contacts, you may be registered with the government funded Home and Community Care (HACC) Response Service, which will respond to your call for assistance. The HACC Response Service operates in accordance with the HACC Program Manual.

If you have a government funded PAV personal alarm you have rights and responsibilities.

Your rights

The right to:

• be treated with courtesy and respect.
• be assessed for access to services without discrimination.
• refuse a service without prejudicing future attempts to access the service.
• be informed and consulted about available services and other relevant matters.
• be part of decisions made about your care.
• make a complaint about the PAV service.
• involve an advocate of your choice.
• receive good quality services.
• privacy and confidentiality, and access to all personal information kept about you. Your information is protected by law and is treated with the strictest confidence and stored securely.

Your responsibilities

The responsibility to:

• be connected to a standard telephone service so that you can make and receive calls.
• be connected to mains electricity.
• treat PAV service staff and your nominated contacts with courtesy and respect.
• provide a safe work environment for staff and your nominated contacts and help them to provide you with services safely.
• make keys available to your nominated contacts or the HACC Response Service.
• look after the equipment.
• use the service appropriately. If the service is used inappropriately, the PAV service will contact you to discuss a solution and, if that is unsuccessful, the funded service will be discontinued. In addition, you may be reassessed for your ongoing eligibility and suitability.
• call the PAV service every day at an agreed time between 6am and 11am. Daily calls are required to ensure that you are all right. If you do not make a daily call, the PAV service will telephone you to confirm your status. Daily calls also confirm the equipment is fully functional and reinforces your confidence in the service.
• make yourself available for a PAV service re-assessment. If you no longer meet the eligibility or suitability criteria, the PAV service to you will be discontinued.
• return the equipment to the PAV service provider when you no longer require the service. The equipment belongs to the Department of Human Services.
• inform the PAV service of a change in your circumstances, such as a change of address, going on a holiday, entering hospital.

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Nominated contacts rights & responsibilities

Personal Alert Victoria relies on the cooperation of relatives and friends to act as nominated contacts when a client calls for assistance. When you agree to act as a nominated contact to a client of Personal Alert Victoria, you have rights and responsibilities.

Your rights

The right to:

• privacy and confidentiality. Your information is treated with the strictest confidence and stored securely.
• be treated with courtesy and respect.
• be informed and consulted about the PAV service provided to the client and other relevant matters.
• be part of decisions made about the client’s care (when nominated as the client’s advocate).
• make a complaint about the PAV service.
• telephone the PAV service if you need advice about your role.

Your responsibilities

The responsibility to:

• have access to the client’s keys to their home and/or the fitted key safe. To save time you could carry the client’s key with you at all times.
• assist the client within 30 minutes if you are called to respond to their call for assistance.
• telephone the PAV service to advise that you have arrived at the client’s home.
• telephone an ambulance or the PAV service if the client is unable to move, or is in pain.
• make sure the client’s home is secured if they are taken to hospital or elsewhere.
• telephone the PAV service and advise them of the outcome, even if the client needs no further help.
• contact the PAV service if you are unable to act as a contact at any time, due to holidays or other reasons, or if you wish to discontinue your role as a contact.
• inform the PAV service of a change in the client’s circumstances, such as a change of address, going on a holiday, entering hospital.
• assist the client to return the equipment to the PAV service provider if they no longer need the service or their circumstances change, such as, they have moved to residential or supported accommodation, they are re-assessed and are no longer suitable or eligible, or if they are using the service inappropriately.
• respect the privacy rights of the client at all times.

Consent & contact details form

Please fill in the consent and contact details form below and submit to the appropriate service provider.

The current providers of the Government funded Personal Alert Victoria service are:

MEPACS
PO Box 192
Mt Eliza Vic 3930

Safety Link
PO Box 179W
Ballarat West Vic 3350

Consent and contact details form (22kb, MS Word)

For further information

To find out more about Personal Alert Victoria contact:

Mt Eliza Personal Assistance Call Service
Telephone: 1800 451 300

Safety Link Personal Response Service
Telephone: 1800 813 617

You can also contact the Independent Living Centre on Telephone (03) 9362 6111. The Centre has a variety of personal assistance call systems on display so you can see how they operate.

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