It is natural for stakeholders to defend the interests of the people they represent, but the serious issues that the ageing population presents for Australia means we need some sensible solutions, not just hot air, writes Emily Millane.
Archive | Opinion
Making this the year of action
Budgetary pressures associated with an ageing population, increasing demand for community services, and a shrinking tax base are all impacting on the sustainability of healthcare services, writes Rod Cooke.
2014: Stop spinning, start thinning!
A new year – what better time to reflect and envision? And what better place for the tongue than somewhere in the cheek, writes Ray Glickman.
Time for a new social inclusion commitment
With the Social Inclusion Unit disbanded, the onus is now on providers to find solutions to support the most vulnerable older people in the community, writes Sandra Hills and Amee Morgans.
Time for action on an ageing population
Raising the pension age without addressing age discrimination and the structural issues which lock a significant number of people out of employment risks further entrenching inequality and poverty in older age, writes Senator Rachel Siewert.
RNs facing extinction
Professor Rhonda Nay argues that instead of simply calling for more registered nurses in aged care, we should dramatically re-structure their scope of practice so they effectively become nurse practitioners, and in the process give personal care workers and enrolled nurses a much greater role in the system.
Don’t let your RAD or DAP get you nabbed!
Reforms always have “unintended consequences” and having to change provider behaviour is as an important part of the reform process as is changing consumer behaviour, writes Mark Sheldon-Stemm.
Meeting the challenge of evacuation
The relocation of residents during the bushfire crisis has provided us with experiences which can immediately benefit other providers, writes Liz Roberts.
Consumers? I don’t buy it
In the process of trying to put people first in policies and planning for aged care, we’ve ended up with a dry economic term that is impersonal, transactional and smacks of a Thatcheresque, reductionist view of the human condition, writes Stephen Judd.
Simply saying sorry
Veteran aged care lawyer, Brian Herd says saying sorry is often all that is needed to avoid a full scale complaint and the whole calamity that can ensue.
Negotiating bonds
When it comes to bonds and accommodation payments, residential aged services providers should start honing their negotiation skills and being more circumspect about accommodating resident’s financial circumstances, writes Joanne O’Brien.
Counting the costs of CALD
Ordinary cost pressures faced by residential aged care providers can be substantially amplified when the residents are from diverse cultures and language backgrounds, according to a new report by Cam Ansell and Petra Neeleman.
Achieving the gold standard in CDC
Consumer-directed home care programs, which begin from August 1, must avoid the risk of becoming little more than a budget-sharing exercise with a tick-the-box approach to choice and control, writes Greg Adey.
LLLB a boon for the bush
Contrary to popular views, the government’s Living Longer Living Better reforms are just what is needed to even up the return on capital for rural, regional and remote aged care providers, writes James Underwood.
