How Nest can help young people with disability living in aged care homes
Article by The Nest Team
Nest gives people with disability, like Aaron, or their carers or support workers, choice, control, convenience and confidence when they are looking for a place to call home. Find out more here.
Aaron Hickey, who travelled from Newcastle for the Nest launch.
In early 2005, former electrician Aaron Hickey from Newcastle, NSW was hit by a train. As a result of the accident, he lost 50% of his vision, broke his right femur, lost his right arm to amputation and acquired a brain injury.
He now requires 24 hour disability support, uses a wheelchair and needs assistance with personal care, cooking and daily duties.
After his accident, Aaron spent time in hospital and was transferred to a rehabilitation centre where staff helped him to regain his skills. When the time came to leave the rehab centre, Aaron’s father was not able to care for him. The only suitable accommodation available for Aaron was a bed in a nursing home. At 24-years-old, Aaron was transferred to the aged care facility where he stayed for two years.
Living in the nursing home was incredibly difficult for Aaron. He found it very hard but his family had limited resources to look for more suitable accommodation. Thankfully however, at the age of 32, Aaron moved into disability accommodation that was more suitable - an independent supported living villa in Mt Hutton with other young people with disability. This turned his life around.
“I have a lot more independence. I can cook with assistance. I have my own garden that I can attend to, and my own privacy,” Aaron explains.
Having now lived in his villa for five years, Aaron is extremely grateful to have his own privacy, something that he couldn’t enjoy in the nursing home.
He says he definitely would have used Nest had the website been available when he and his family were looking for suitable accommodation. And although he is happy in his current disability home, he would definitely use Nest if he plans to move sometime in the future.
Having choice when it comes to where you live means you have “more control of your life”, Aaron says.
Nest gives people with disability, like Aaron, or their carers or support workers, choice, control, convenience and confidence when they are looking for a place to call home. Find out more here.
