Assistance provided by a companion (paid worker) to an individual, either within the home environment or while accessing community services, which is primarily directed towards meeting the person's need for social contact and/or company in order to participate in community life. Social support includes: visiting services, telephone and web-based monitoring services, other technologies that help connect older people to their community (e.g to assist people with sensory impairments or those living in geographically isolated areas) and assisting the person through accompanied shopping, bill paying, attendance at appointments and other related activities.
Social support is usually provided one-on-one but may also be provided to more than one person, for example, where social support is provided to an aged couple.