Chester lived with his son Cliff. Chester called the Older Persons Advocacy Network and told the advocate that his son had recently become physically and verbally abusive towards him and he didn’t know what to do as he didn’t want to move.

Chester explained that he had moved in with his son for financial reasons three years ago, and they had enjoyed living together as they could share the chores and split the bills. Chester had always been fit and healthy, but seven months ago he had broken his hip, sustained an infection and was now able to do very little

independently. As a result, Chester’s son Cliff was now responsible for caring for his father as well as maintaining the house and working full time.

The advocate listened to Chester’s story and identified that Cliff could possibly be experiencing carer stress, an observation that Chester agreed with whole heartedly. The advocate identified that Chester had no services in place and Cliff was accessing no respite or support for himself. The advocate discussed the number of services available with Chester who was surprised to hear how much was available to assist him and Cliff.

The advocate arranged for Chester to have an assessment and within two weeks Chester was receiving five hours of care a week, including some housekeeping and gardening which relieved the pressure on Cliff. A month later Chester called the advocate to report that his life had changed dramatically, with Cliff no longer lashing out at him and them both being supported.