FOCUS is the Needs Assessment Service Co-ordination (NASC) agency for the Wairarapa region and is a service of Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand.
FOCUS has two main functions.
- Provides a single point of entry for referrals to long-term disability support services including residential care, palliative care support including Kahukura clinical specialist care and the Health Recovery Programme.
- Provides Needs Assessment and arranges support services for people with long-term disabilities to support them to be as independent as possible.
In relation to FOCUS services, a disability is an impairment which can make routine tasks more difficult or impossible.
Impairments may be physical, intellectual, sensory, neurological, age-related or psychiatric and can result from a wide range of causes.
A long-term impairment is one which lasts longer than six months.Many long-term impairments are lifelong.