Nightlife

Nightlife enables people with disabilities who require some sort of support around the clock to remain living as independently as possible in their own homes or in their family's home and prevent the admission to costly and often dehumanising congregate care facilities, nursing homes, group homes and other 24-hour support models.

Nightlife also provides services:

• To enable people who require some sort of 24 hour support to move from congregate care facilities into their own home or return to their family's home thus reducing high costs incurred by the State.
• To provide night time back up support service to enable people to move from hospital after sustaining injuries such as paraplegia and quadriplegia who otherwise might remain in hospital until a 24-hour support facility becomes available. In this situation people may only require intermittent, back up or emergency support during the night e.g. turning. Thus reducing waiting lists, burdens on hospitals and costly care.
• To reduce the stress both emotionally and physically on aging carers, many of which are at breaking point and requiring hospitalisation or need to stop providing care due to interrupted sleep and relentless physical demands
• To prevent admission to costly congregate care facilities when carers are no longer around or unable to provide support over night
• To sustain good health practice and prevent hospital admissions by having available flexible, intermittent overnight supports when needed e.g. with medication administration, emergency support and assistance with turning which leads to the prevention of pressure sores and thus prevents lengthy readmission to hospitals,
• To provide a back up for people whose regular agency staff don't turn up to assist them to bed. There are many situations and where people have sat in their wheel chairs all night or called an ambulance to put them to bed.
• To maintain people with disabilities in the work force and thus sustain their economic contribution
• To enable people to have the opportunity to have the flexibility to socialise, work or study in the evening rather than having to be home in bed at a pre-described time (as described by one woman with a disability as prior to 8pm). Thus providing the opportunity to enhance people's state of mind, worth, natural support networks and unpaid supports.
• To create back up support which may foster the likelihood of a range of people coming forward to life share with people with a disability in an unpaid relationship without having to be available 24 hours a day.

Find out more information at the Nightlife Website:

http://www.nightlife.org.au