Someone to visit
This is the need people are most likely to apologise for, and it is as real as any of the others. Being alone all week is the thing that quietly makes everything else worse.
There is a paid answer and a free one, and a surprising number of families qualify for the free one without knowing it exists.
The free scheme nobody knows about
The Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme matches a volunteer with an older person for regular visits, at no cost. It is government funded, it has run for years, and it is consistently the thing families are most astonished to learn is there.
It is not instant — there is a wait and matching takes time — but the visits are ongoing rather than one-off, and it costs nothing. Ask My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 about it by name.
The paid version
A companion who visits regularly — a chat, a cup of tea, a walk, help with a crossword or a photo album. Reliable, chosen, and the same friendly face each week, which is the part that matters.
Often subsidised through an aged care assessment, and available privately in the meantime.
When it is more than company
If someone needs somebody there the whole time, that is not a visit — it is supervision, and it is a different, skilled job. That side is worth talking to a person about rather than arranging casually.
But for plain company, this is one of the most quietly valuable things you can set up.
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.
See also
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.