News you might have missed
In this wrap: Productivity Commission to study housing decisions of seniors; co-production trial in enablement underway; report highlights business challenges of CDC; experts share research on later-life learning.
In this wrap:
- Productivity Commission to study housing decisions of seniors
- Co-production trial in enablement underway
- Report highlights business challenges of CDC
- Experts to share research findings on later life learning
PC to study housing decisions of seniors
The Productivity Commission has launched a study into the housing decisions of older Australians, including their access to market-based equity release products.
The research project will focus on the impact of housing decisions on the standard of living of older Australian households and economy-wide efficiency, equity and sustainability.
The PC said many older people had significant equity built up in the family home, which remained untapped throughout retirement, and many households did not view their housing wealth as a form of retirement savings.
The way older Australians contribute to their cost of aged care, including accommodation, is inconsistent and inequitable, the PC’s 2011 Caring for Older Australians report also found.
The research project will examine the impacts of various policies on the housing decisions of older Australians, focusing on:
- the tax and social security treatment of the principal place of residence (including the age pension means test)
- regulations affecting the supply and cost of residential aged care and other age-specific housing
- the availability of market-based equity release products.
The study, announced this week, will only consider the accommodation aspects of aged care, not the care component.
The PC expects to release a research paper in November 2015.
Co-production trial in enablement underway
CommunityWest, in conjunction with COTA Australia, has announced the 10 community care organisations that have been selected to trial co-production as a new way of working with consumers of aged care services.
As Australian Ageing Agenda has reported, The Step Forward: Create Better Together project will see organisations adopt co-production tools and principles to enhance the wellness and enablement focus of their services.
Project director Jane Sterck said there was a growing appetite within the aged care sector to explore this approach, as was evident by the large number of applications from service providers to take part in the national project.
Co-production encourages providers to see consumers as equal partners in the design and delivery of services and has been used extensively in the UK in disability and aged care.
The pilot phase of the project will run over eight months, from October to May 2016, followed by the development and dissemination of tools and resources to consumers and to the broader community services sector.
The organisations participating in the trial are:
- Uniting Communities (SA)
- Centacare Community Services (QLD)
- St Bartholomew’s House (WA)
- West Coast Community Services (SA)
- The Society of Saint Hilarion Aged Care (SA)
- Glenview Community Services (TAS)
- MercyCare (WA)
- Uniting AgeWell (VIC)
- Calvary Home Services (NSW)
- Jubilee Community Care (QLD)
The $1 million project is funded under the latest round of Aged Care Service Improvement and Healthy Ageing Grants (ACSIHAG).
Report highlights business challenges of CDC
Managing sub-contractors under consumer directed care could challenge home care providers and increase administration costs, a new whitepaper says.
The paper from professional services firm Deloitte said providers were concerned about the level of administration that would be added to their business model from sub-contracting arrangements in order to meet the diverse needs and preferences of clients.
Jovita Gartlan, Deloitte Consulting partner, said the onus was on providers to ensure appropriate checks were undertaken and appropriate care provided by sub-contractors.
“This raises concern regarding the levels of administrative costs that may be added to their business model,” Ms Gartlan said. “It will not be uncommon for providers to seek additional funding to support this potential cost increase.”
Managing subcontractors may not be a core skill of many providers, she added.
The report highlighted that in extreme cases providers could be sub-contracting with multiple service providers to deliver the range of services requested.
Providers will also be challenged to allocate and roster their workforce using traditional methods due to the increased complexity of individual client service requirements and current award constraints, said the report.
Experts to share research findings on later life learning
How do seniors rate the importance of lifelong learning? What specific factors are enablers and barriers to seniors participating in learning, education and training? And what are the individual and societal benefits?
These are some of the key questions to be discussed in a webinar hosted by the Australian Association of Gerontology on continuing education for people over 50.
The webinar on 25 June will hear from Australian and New Zealand experts on the latest research on seniors’ attitudes and interests, as well debate the motivators and challenges to uptake.
Dr Ruth Williams, Research Fellow at the National Seniors Productive Ageing Centre, will address the webinar along with Brian Findsen, Professor of Adult Education at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.
Dr Helen Kimberley, Senior Manager of Retirement & Ageing, Brotherhood Research & Policy Centre will facilitate the discussion.
The webinar, ‘Learning, Education and Training amongst the over 50s’, will take place on Thursday, 25 June at 12pm-1pm (AEST).
