Mate to Mate: Connecting Older Men and HACC Services is a project run by COTA NSW in partnership with The University of Western Sydney’s Men’s Health Information and Resource Centre (MHIRC, click on the link to visit the Centre’s website). Supported by the Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care, the project aims to increase the health of older men by connecting them to Home and Community Care (HACC) services.

The project builds upon the recent MHIRC study entitled ‘Older men and HACC services: barriers to access and effective models of care‘ (you can view and download a copy of the report by clicking on the link on the right hand side bar), which proposes that older men are not utilising Home and Community Care Services to the extent that the stated demand for the services would suggest is needed. If these barriers can be overcome it is expected that older men could be better supported to remain in their homes and communities and age positively.

MHIRC will look at developing capacity building tools for HACC service providers regarding the support of older men, while COTA NSW will recruit and train volunteer peer educators who will deliver information sessions to older men’s groups.

Mate to Mate is in its initial phase, which involves the development of a training program for volunteers and connecting with older men’s groups or other interested parties. We welcome your queries about this phase of the program. Once the volunteer training program has been developed, we will invite people to train as volunteer Peer Educators early in 2012.

The project will commence in the Mid-North Coast, Central West and Cumberland and Prospect HACC Local Planning Areas. Mate to Mate Peer Educators will then deliver information sessions to older men’s groups, exploring the barriers older men face when they want to use HACC services and discussing how to overcome them.

You can book a Mate to Mate session online now.

For more information about the Mate to Mate project please contact Christopher Smith at COTA NSW: phone (02) 9286 3860 Ext.203, email chris.smith@cotansw.com.au or Eric Wood (MHIRC Component): phone (02) 8090 6549, email ewood@ewconsulting.net.au

DOWNLOADS:
Mate to Mate brochure(PDF)
Booking form (DOC)

To complete the booking form:

• Email: Download the booking form to your computer and the complete the form in word. Save the completed form to your computer and email it to spec@cotansw.com.au
• Fax: Download the booking form to your computer and print out a copy. Fax the completed form to (02) 9286 3872
• Post: Download the booking form to your computer and print out a copy.
  Post to:  COTA NSW Education Team
                Level 6, 280 Pitt Street
                SYDNEY NSW 2000