Come home to independence.

Making your own decisions is key to a fulfilling life. At Spectrum Care, we support you to access the information and services you need to decide on the good life you want to live.

We can provide independent living support, complete in-home support, planned break services and employment opportunities. The level of care we provide is tailored to the needs and aspirations of each individual and aims to create peace of mind for families and carers.

Find out today how Spectrum Care Living can support for your future aspirations. Call us now on 09 634 3790. 

Every person with a disability deserves a life of choice, freedom and independence. Living in a home of your own choice is a big step towards achieving this goal.

Spectrum Care specialises in providing the right support to enable you to choose your own path and to get the right help when you need it.

Our Independent Living Support service is person-centred and aspirational-focused, putting you in control of your choices and the support you receive.

We provide two types of independent living support: 

• Choice in Community Living 
• Supported Living 

Both programmes are personalised to the needs and wishes of each individual and promote autonomy, inclusion and community integration. The aim is for each person to find the best-possible solution for them. 

Community Living  

Our Community Living programme supports people to live more independently, including in a rental property or their own home.

We ensure they:

• Receive the support they need and prefer;
• Ensure family and personal connections are maintained and enhanced;
• Actively participate and have valued roles in the community;
• Engage in work/education/training or meaningful day activities;
• Develop independence;
• Realise goals of Personal Outcomes Plans (see ‘The Outcomes Philosophy’)

We work alongside individuals, and their family and friends, NASC agencies, staff and others to help them to overcome barriers to enhancing their life quality. We encourage each individual to include their support network in the planning process. 

Empowerment of the individual to make their own decisions is key, as is ensuring that they are at the heart of the implementation process and feel a sense of ownership and pride in the decisions that are made.

Part of living a great life is being able to choose how you live.

Supported Living is about identifying the things you do well and enabling you to do them yourself. In the areas you need someone to work alongside you, Spectrum Care Supported Living can help. 

As with all Spectrum Care services, you are at the centre of all decision-making; we work with you and your whanau/carers to provide the living style you want.  Our aim is for each person to find the best-possible solutions for them – from support structures and services to home location and lifestyle.

Our specific goals are to enable people to:

• Live in their home of choice, including rental or home ownership;
• Be supported how, when and by whom they choose;
• Maintain and enhance whanau and personal connections;
• Participate in and be valued by their communities;
• Have meaningful work/education/training opportunities;
• Develop independence;
• Realise personal goals.

Give us a call on 09 634 3790 and tell us what you need to live the life you choose.

Taking a break helps everyone to recharge. Spectrum Care planned break services for adults provide access to a wide range of tailored and engaging activities.

Our planned break facilities are staffed by trained carers on a 24-hour basis and are designed to create a ‘home–away-from-home’ atmosphere.

Structured care and support for the families of people with medical or technological dependencies is available. The planned break care team works closely with other health professionals to ensure consistent care of each individual.

Planned breaks are provided on a rostered basis and the services are aimed at families that need ‘time out’. Overnight, weekend, and day planned break services are available.

They teams also provide training and support to families to help them better manage the specific needs of their loved one at home.

To plan the next break for your family, call us today on 09 634 3790. 

Need to stay local? We’ll come to you.

Our Home Support service provides individualised support to children, young people and adults with a disability at their place. We work with the person and their family to provide personalised support that accommodates their needs no matter how complex. Our service also gives whanau / caregivers time to spend on other activities or with other family members. 

Our aim is to support people to build life skills, achieve goals and develop natural networks in the community. 

Home Support provides help with:

• Developing a person’s skills – handling money, cooking and making friends;
• Access to their community – joining clubs and teams, learning bus routes;
• Help with educational goals;
• Identifying a buddy who can join in a range of activities.

If a person has more complex needs, has a behaviour support plan in place and/or requires overnight support as well as home support, we work with the person and family to provide a service that takes all of these needs into account. 

Call us today on 09 634 3790 to find out more about Home Support.

Finding a home to live in, that is near friends and family or just simply works for you can be challenging. Homes of Choice works alongside you to find the best solution for your needs.

Homes of Choice is a wholly owned subsidiary of Spectrum Foundation.

Our aim is to provide great homes that enable choice, affordability and hauora (wellbeing) for people with disabilities.

For more information, contact us on 09 634 9766 or info@homesofchoice.org.nz

homesofchoice.org.nz

Our values

• People-centred – Putting people, their needs and their aspirations always at the centre;
• Choice – Supporting individual outcomes through choice and possibility;
• Partnership – Collaborating to achieve our vision of good lives based on choice and community connections;
• Innovation – Applying new thinking and ways of working to improve outcomes and achieve success;
• Integrity – Consistently valuing honesty and respect in all that we do, and matching our words with actions.

The ACC ‘Living My Life’ option gives you control of your care. Together we can work alongside you to access the very best services. 

Whether you are new to this support option or want to improve your current service offering, Spectrum Care puts you at the centre of all decision-making to ensure you get the best possible outcomes from your ACC funding. We cover all components of the programme and help you to create an individualised plan.

Our ‘ACC Living My Life’ support option provides a means for people with life-changing injuries to re-engage with their communities through social activities, hobbies, employment and more.

You are at the centre of all decision-making and our role is to be a trusted partner on your journey towards realising possibilities.

Our highly trained team has a depth of experience in working in a person-directed way, led by the needs and aspirations of those we support to explore and engage in their community.

Our team will help you to map your needs and decide what you want to gain from our support.

We deliver all four components of the ACC Living My Life support option:

• Facilitated Pathway Mapping
• Independent Facilitation
• Tailored Supports
• Coaching to Self-manage

Through these steps, your ACC Living My Life support could include:

Community participation 

• Support to map all of your interests and hobbies, to find fun and engaging activities
• Support to access volunteer work in the community
• Support to access sporting, cultural and recreational activities in the community

Employment 

• Support in developing work skills and identifying strengths, goals and interests
• Support with individual employment opportunities
• Support to access tertiary education and develop work skills

The Living My Life support option is accessed by referral from ACC and is open to those who have existing ACC supports.

Speak to your ACC Case Manager today about how we can help.

For more information, email Spectrum Care’s Service Manager – Aspirations at Piri.Rutherford@spectrumcare.org.nz or call 09 634 3790.

At Spectrum Care, we believe in supporting people with a disability to understand their rights and advocate for themselves. 

We believe in listening completely and doing the right thing. For those that struggle to advocate for themselves, we ensure their natural supports and/or staff can raise concerns and support the person to have their rights and needs met.

We can provide individuals and families with: 

• Information, advice and the appropriate forms for those wishing to apply to be Welfare Guardians or Property Managers
• Information on our support options
• Regular updates on Welfare Guardianship and the Code of Rights, as well as disability sector news
• Information about external advocacy services such as the Health and Disability Commission, the Personal Advocacy and Safeguarding Adults Trust (PASAT), Adult Guardianship and Advocacy Services Trust, and Citizens Advocacy

Additional resources

Code of Rights

When you use a health or disability service in New Zealand, you have the protection of a Code of Rights. For more information on the Code of Rights click here.

Welfare Guardianship 

Welfare Guardianship involves a person being appointed by the courts to support the care and welfare decisions of individuals unable to make these decisions for themselves.

To get support and/or information about Welfare Guardianship, along with Property and Personal Orders under the ‘Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 88’ (PPPR Act 88) you can approach the following organisations…

Adult Guardianship and Advocacy Services Trust

Support whānau and others with applications to the courts for Guardianship, Property & Personal Order applications (under the PPPR Act 88), along with independent advocacy and life skill development for people with learning disabilities

Web: www.adultguardianship.org.nz

Email: adultguardianshipnz@gmail.com

Phone: 021 08767583

PPPR Services

These services are predominantly, but not limited to administrative, financial, marketing and training. This support allows Independent PPPR Consultants who work with PPPR Services to focus on solutions for those they’re appointed to assist.

Web: www.ppprservices.co.nz

Email: martha@ppprservices.co.nz

Phone: 09 8693 923

Auckland Disability Law

Auckland Disability Law (ADL) provides free legal services to disabled people for disability related legal issues. ADL is the only specialist disability law community law centre in Aotearoa New Zealand.  ADL also provides legal education on disability law in the community and within disability and legal organisations. They work with the disabled and deaf communities through their community engagement and law reform activities.

Web: http://aucklanddisabilitylaw.org.nz/

Email: info@adl.org.nz

Phone: 09 257 5140

For more information about advocacy support, contact the Spectrum Foundation Advocacy Manager on 09 634 3790 ext 312 or 0274 757 577.

Hello. Kia ora. Talofa. Bula. Malo lei lei. Ni hao. Whichever way you say it, we will listen to you and your needs. 

New Zealand is one of the world’s most culturally diverse communities. Spectrum Care’s community cultural team provides support and advisory services to people of all cultures and ethnicities, with specialist teams supporting the needs of our Māori, Pacific Island and Asian communities.

Our cultural services aim to provide person-centred, culturally appropriate support and an integrated approach that focuses on the needs of the individual.

The Community Cultural team provides: 

• Assistance to access the support they require from government agencies, such as Work and Income or Housing New Zealand;
• Links to other disability support agencies;
• Assistance to promote cultural understanding;
• Links to and encouragement to become actively involved and included in their cultures and communities;
• Support to plan and review how Spectrum Care’s meets cultural needs.

Awhi 

Meaning ‘to support and guide’, Spectrum’s ‘Awhi’ group has been delivering culturally appropriate support to Māori for nearly 20 years.

The Awhi group is involved in all aspects of Spectrum Care’s support provision. It also facilitates staff inductions, powhiri, house blessings, tangi (bereavements), rights and advocacy, and other cultural initiatives.

Pacific Peoples

Spectrum Care’s Pacifika group provides high-quality, culturally-appropriate support and advisory services to people from the Pacific Islands.

The Pacifika group provides an array of cultural activities and events for the people we support, including facilitating at events such as blessings and bereavements.

Asian services 

For more than 10 years, Spectrum has provided culturally appropriate support and advisory services to people of Asian descent.

Led by Spectrum’s Cultural Advisor – Asian Services, our specialist cultural team also utilises a wide network of long-term community partnerships including organisations such as TANI (The Asian Network Inc), CNSST (Chinese New Settlers Services Trust), NZCYT (New Zealand Chinese Youth Trust) and the Disability Connect Chinese Families Autism Support Group.

To access our Community and Cultural Services a referral is needed from Taikura Trust, phone: 0800 835 4672.

For more information, contact the Manager – Community Support Services on 09 634 3790.

We all face different challenges, but together we can overcome them. Spectrum Care is one of the largest providers of disability support services in New Zealand and because of that we have the experience to meet your needs. We offer a range of coordinated and integrated specialist services, aimed at supporting each person’s unique and individual needs.

Our Clinical team works alongside people and their whanau to develop goals and the best strategies to attain them. To find out just how much we can support you and your whanau call 09 634 3790 today.

We offer a range of coordinated and integrated specialist services, aimed at supporting each person’s unique and individual needs.

Behaviour Support

Our Behaviour Support team works with people and alongside parents/caregivers and staff to:

• Conduct assessments related to the need for behavioural interventions
• Develop and implement strategies to help manage challenging behaviours
• Monitor and regularly review behaviour support strategies
• Identify and work towards achieving meaningful goals
• Help parents/caregivers develop the skills to effectively manage challenging behaviours
• Build relationships with other professionals and providers in the disability community
• Provide training and support across all our regions and services

Speech-Language Therapy Support

Our Speech-Language Therapy Team are registered members of the NZ Speech-language Therapists’ Association, they work with people, whanau and support staff to:

• Provide advice and support for communication, and eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties (dysphagia).
• Complete assessment and observation of people’s communication, and their support needs.
• Identify, and implement strategies and supports to help maximise a person’s communication. Provide coaching, modelling and mentoring for support staff and whanau to embed these supports.
• Complete swallowing screening, assessments and mealtime observations, to identify eating drinking and swallowing risks.
• Provide safer swallowing strategies and recommendations to manage eating, drinking and swallowing risks.
• Provide training across all our regions and services about communication, and eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.
• Support people to access other services such as DHBs, and TalkLink.

Clinical, Health and Ageing

Our Clinical, Health and Ageing team works with people and alongside parents/caregivers and staff to:

• Conduct regular assessments of people’s health and medication needs through our Comprehensive Health Assessment Programme
• Partner with DHBs and tertiary institutions in pursuit of better health outcomes for the people we support
• Develop and implement strategies to help manage these needs and desired outcomes
• Monitor and regularly review the impact and ongoing success of these strategies
• Identify and work towards achieving meaningful health improvement and medication management
• Build relationships with other professionals and providers in the health and disability communities
• Provide training and support across all our regions and services