In June, Country Care Group hosted thirteen Melbourne-based Occupational Therapists at a breakfast led by Country Care Group CEO, Andrew Vidler. The morning was built as a listening forum: OT's sharing what they're seeing on the ground, and CCG learning how to better support clinicians, clients, and the wider sector.
Occupational Therapists help people stay safe, independent, and living at home for longer. That was the thread running through every conversation.
What We Heard
Attendees described growing caseloads and ongoing workforce pressure across the sector. Funding pathways came up too, and how their complexity can delay access to assistive technology when people need it most.
Early Intervention
Early intervention was the strongest theme of the morning. OT's spoke about the difference timely equipment access makes: fewer falls, fewer hospital admissions, fewer premature moves into residential care. The conversation also turned to how providers, clinicians, and government might work more closely together on outcomes for older Australians.
Where This Goes Next
Country Care Group is continuing these conversations with Occupational Therapists, working toward the same goal: helping people live safely, independently, and well at home. We are now taking expressions of interest to attend future networking breakfasts. Please drop us a line here. We are also more than happy to organise an event for a group of OT's.
Breaking Down Language Barriers in Assistive Technology
Good clinical care depends on clients understanding their options. For people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, technical language around products and funding can get in the way of that understanding.
Country Care Group has translated its Everyday Products for Independent Living Catalogue into Vietnamese. The catalogue covers assistive technology and daily living products across the home, from kitchen aids to mobility equipment, bathroom solutions, and continence products.
View Vietnamese CatalogueWhy Vietnamese, Why Now
The project grew out of CCG's relationship with the Australian Vietnamese Women's Association. Conversations with AVWA and the communities it supports made clear that information in a person's own language builds real confidence and engagement in care decisions.
More Than 1 in 5
More than one in five Australians speak a language other than English at home, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We also feel it's really important that the end user has involvement in choosing and understanding the equipment that is being chosen for them.
For Occupational Therapists, a translated catalogue is a practical clinical tool: something to reinforce recommendations after an appointment, and something that reduces reliance on informal translation during equipment conversations.
What's Next
The Vietnamese and Mandarin editions are the first in what we hope becomes a growing set of translated resources. Greek translations are currently in development and as relationships with community organisations grow, more catalogues will follow in more languages.
View Mandarin CatalogueGet in Touch
With Greek translations of the catalogue currently in development, if you have a client who would benefit from a translated copy of the Support At Home catalogue in Vietnamese or Mandarin, please reach out to the Country Care team and let us know which language we should translate next.