Our Services
We have a range of services to help you or an elderly relative or friend.
On this page:
AgeConnect Taranaki
Events
Visiting Service
Elder Abuse Response Service
Frozen meals for sale
Health Promotions
AgeConnect Taranaki
social programs
- Drop in coffee and conversation groups – held in New Plymouth, Inglewood, Hawera, Stratford and Waitara. Waverley, Patea, Manaia, Opunake and Okato.
- Social mornings with guest speakers – held in New Plymouth and Hawera
- Arranged monthly outings
- Sing-a-long sessions – Warm up Wednesday fortnightly in New Plymouth, In Tune with Inglewood fortnightly on Thursday’s and In Tune with Waitara or Chirpy Fridays in Stratford fortnightly on Friday’s
North Taranaki
Connecting older people in communities, enabling them to live meaningful lives and feel inclusive in society is what Social Connection Programmes are all about and reflects Our Vision at Age Concern Taranaki.
Delivering programmes such as a Monthly Outing to a Café or local restaurant once a month gives an opportunity for people to be together and enjoy a meal out, who would not normally do this without the company and support of others.
Drop in Café in New Plymouth is a walk – in type of social gathering held once a week. At this casual and friendly regular gathering. anything is on the menu. From interactive games, quiz, music, exercises, rock n chairs, birthday celebrations and lots of fun and laughter. It is always complimented by delicious morning tea.
Social Morning is held once a month and is a valuable opportunity to empower our older population with relevant heath education, resources and an invitation for Guest Speakers to deliver health related topics and services in our community.
Singalong and Music programmes are held in North Taranaki regularly in New Plymouth, Inglewood, Waitara and Okato. Music has numerous health benefits for everyone. It enhances memories, encourages coordination, rhythm and participation for all. We incorporate cultural diversity and deliver appropriate services for everyone over 65 years.
South Taranaki
We are very proud to promote the Age Connect program for South Taranaki, covering an area from Opunake to Waverley and including Stratford (over 10 different venues, population of 35,730 spread over 3584 sqm).
South Taranaki is the place to live with its natural beauty, friendly people and uncrowded lifestyle. The Age Connect Taranaki program, aims to increase social connections for older people, leading to new friendships being formed and resulting in strengthened communities.
We provide the opportunity for members of our community to join us at any of our Coffee Mornings, SAYgo groups, Monthly outings, Singing groups, Games Mornings, Guest Speakers and Aqua Walking. Considering the existing diversity of our population, we aim to provide the highest respect of all cultures within our community, whilst providing fun and positive experiences.
We invite you to join us at any of our events.
Please call Estelle on 027 228 5371 for more information.
Contact us to chat about how we can support you to set up a social program in your community.
Events
There are plenty of events for seniors in Taranaki, from Craft mornings to Aqua walking and more!
Visit and follow our Facebook Page to see what’s on around the region.
Visiting Service
Our Age Concern Visiting Service is a befriending service that provides regular visits to older people who would like more company; to reduce social isolation and loneliness. Our visitors are volunteers who are keen to spend time with an older person for about an hour each week to enjoy conversation and shared interests and activities. We have men and women from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages. What they have in common is warmth, friendliness and a desire to make a difference in the life of an older person
Regular visits can make a real difference to an older person’s health and happiness, and our volunteers tell us that they really enjoy and benefit from their role. We have over 50 volunteers currently on our ‘books’, throughout Taranaki. If you would like a visitor please contact us.
If you would like to spend time with an older person and have an hour or so a week to spare, we want to hear from you. Similarly, if you know of someone who might benefit from a visitor, get in touch with us and we’ll find the right visitor for them. Get in touch with us by choosing a contact option below.
Our visiting coordinator will:
- Screen and train volunteer visitors
- Carefully match clients with visitors
- Support visitors’ regular visits
- Monitor and review each relationship on a regular basis
- Provide ongoing visitor training
- Link the client to other Age Concern services
Visiting service referals
If you would like to refer someone to our visiting service, please download the visiting service referral form. Return address and contact details are on the form.
Elder Abuse Response Service
What is an Elder Abuse?
‘Elder Abuse is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring in any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person.’ There are different types of abuse like, psychological, financial, physical, institutional, neglect, or sexual.
Age Concern Taranaki provides a free and confidential Elder Abuse Response Service (EARS) for the whole Taranaki region. We work very closely and collaboratively with many support agencies across the Taranaki district including DHB’s, police, social workers, home-based support. Our professional Elder Abuse staff work with older people / kaumātua and their carers providing support and advocacy so that older people can be happy, healthy and safe from harm.
Age Concern Taranaki responds to any and all allegations of Elder Abuse Taranaki wide. Elder Abuse incudes Psychological abuse, Financial abuse, Neglect, Self-neglect, Physical abuse and Institutional abuse.
Anyone over the age of 65 can self-refer or be referred by someone else (family, friends, health professionals etc.) The EARS team pride ourselves on being able to engage with our Kaumātua and form meaningful relationships. We are able to provide advocacy for our clients with services such as Work and Income as well as support our clients to their appointments (GP, Lawyers etc.) when necessary.
Our team consists of both Registered Social Workers and Nurses who complete holistic assessments to identify abuse and risk factors. Often safety plans are completed and referrals are made to other relevant services such as Police and specialist services within Te Whatu Ora. This enables us to work collaboratively and ensure a wraparound approach to support our clients.
Clients will often want their families and loved ones involved in their support plans so EARS can facilitate Whanau Hui (family meetings). Confidentiality is of utmost importance so we are careful when communicating with other people regarding our client’s and their circumstances.
The EARS team often provide education and awareness of what Elder Abuse is and what it entails. This involves information talks within the community, often at rest homes or to other community groups.
It is paramount that the EARS team work collaboratively to ensure the best outcomes for our clients. To do this, we facilitate Elder Abuse Advisory Panel meetings. This consists of a variety of professionals who are all experts in their field. These professionals include Police, Lawyers, Geriatrician, Mental Health, Alzheimer’s Taranaki and many more. We sit down to discuss any complex cases and the EARS team can ask for any advice and background info.
The EARS team understand that no two cases are the same and it is important that we only do what our client wants us to do. We do not have any statutory power so all of work is client lead and depends on client engagement. Once a client case is closed we ask that an evaluation form is completed so we can identify our strengths as a team as well as any areas that may need improvement.
Refer someone to our Elder Abuse Response Service
What does elder abuse mean for you?
“The major concern for me is it’s upsetting my family. My son and daughter in law were the ones taking loan after loan and it annoyed me that they assumed I was loaded! I was worried if I asked them to start paying me back they’d stop visiting me. Nothing was happening, I knew they needed to make an effort. I just felt ashamed having to chase my own son up for money, its hard topic to approach”
– Mark (false name), 74 years old, New Plymouth
“I felt like I had to turn everything off (emotionally) and just ignore him. He’s my son and I couldn’t even talk with him. I could hear him muttering things from his bedroom and I knew he was working himself up. I could never have any privacy-I couldn’t even use the phone without him listening in on any calls. I felt I just had to carry on and not cause a fuss.”
– Sandra(false name) 87 years old, South Taranaki
Frozen meals for sale
Pick up from 31-33 Liardet Street , New Plymouth or delivery on a Friday morning throughout New Plymouth.
Health Promotions
- Staying Safe – Driver Safety Workshops
- Information Workshops
- Aqua Exercise – Contact – New Plymouth Pauline 06 759 9196, Stratford Estelle 027 228 5371
- Steady As You Go – Senior Exercise Classes for Strength and Balance – Contact Andrea 06 759 9196