STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND MEDIA RELEASE
Home and community support sector Standard – draft Standard available for comment
The draft Home and community support sector Standard DZ 8158 (a revision of NZS 8158:2003) is available for public comment until 4 November 2011. The revision of NZS 8158 was driven by a desire to continually improve the quality of home support services. Since NZS
8158 was first published in 2003 there have been considerable changes in home support services and how they are
provided. Home and community staff and agencies now perform more complex tasks and carry a higher degree of expertise
and responsibility.
The revised Standard aims to ensure that people who face challenges to full participation in everyday life receive good
quality support in their home and community to maintain or increase their independence, live in their own home,
participate in their communities, and fulfil the roles they value.
A principles-based approach informed the revision of the Standard. The key principles underpinning the Standard include:
• working in partnership with people, and their families, and whānau
• respecting that both people receiving support, and service providers, have rights and responsibilities
• respecting people's dignity, autonomy, and privacy in their own homes
• recognising and responding to people's cultural identity
• supporting people to make decisions about their own lives
• maximising the flexibility, choice, and control people have over the support they receive to meet their agreed
outcomes.
Related Touchstone articles
•Review of home and community support sector Standard, March 2011
•Revised Health and disability services Standards – available now, December 2008
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