Help / Getting out of the house
The shopping
When the shopping gets too much there are two quite different answers, and they suit different people. Getting the right one matters more than it looks.
Someone who goes with them
A person who takes them to the shops, helps them round, and carries it home. For a lot of older people the outing is the point — a reason to get dressed, be out, and choose their own things — and losing that is a real loss, not just an inconvenience.
This is a support worker or companion rather than a delivery driver, and it is often subsidised.
Delivered to the door
The supermarkets deliver, and for someone who finds the trip exhausting or unsafe it is the simpler answer. It can be set up online once and repeated each week, and a family member interstate can manage the order from their own phone.
The trade-off is that the outing goes with it. If getting out is doing them good, delivery quietly takes that away — worth weighing before you default to it.
Which one
If the problem is carrying it, delivery. If the problem is that they should not be out alone but the outing matters, someone who goes with them. Plenty of families end up with both — delivery for the heavy weekly stock-up, a trip out for the bits they like choosing.
For the subsidised version of someone going with them, the way in is My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and a free assessment.
What AskFam does and does not do
AskFam works out what you need and points you at services that already exist. It does not employ anyone, does not arrange the work, and takes no fee or commission — from you or from them.
It also has not checked anybody. Where you see a business listed, that is a public listing, not a recommendation. Where somebody offers on a job you posted, that is them describing themselves, in their own words. Ask for what matters to you, and take your time about it.
Want AskFam to work out who covers this near you? Describe it in your own words — we will tell you exactly what to ask for.