Older people waiting years to access community care: study
Around nine in ten older people were still waiting for a home care package nine months to a year after they were first approved for care, according to the results of a new study analysing aged care waiting times.
Around nine in ten older people were still waiting for a home care package nine months to a year after they were first approved for care, according to a new study.
The research published in the latest issue of the Australasian Journal on Ageing found that only 35 out of 285 approved aged care packages (or 12 per cent) in Townsville in North Queensland were actually provided to assessed clients during a 12-month period.
While it was unknown how many older people were offered a package but refused one, the study’s authors said the lengthy waiting times pointed to a local community care system that was “failing” older people in need.
“The vast majority of older people approved for an Aged Care Package were still waiting after one year,” the authors wrote.
The research, by Dr Paul Goldstraw from The Townsville Hospital and the Aged Care Assessment Team at Townsville Health Service District, said delayed access to community support was placing increased pressure on local acute hospitals and the authors called for closer monitoring of aged care waiting times by government.
While many older people were still waiting for a package a year after their approval, those that did receive care were not always provided with a package that matched their assessed need. For example, eight clients in the study approved for an Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) package received a lower-level Community Aged Care Package, which provides fewer hours of assistance.
The authors said this suggested providers were delivering whatever care package was available to avoid providing nothing at all. “However, this potentially compromises the client and imbalances the care system with inappropriate care support,” they wrote.
The authors identified strong advocacy by a carer and already receiving some level of support as positive factors correlated with a person’s likelihood of receiving care.
“Accessing a package may be more difficult for people who live alone than those with a carer, and awareness of the support services available may also be lacking,” the authors wrote.
The authors said the financial costs of a home care package or needing to change providers as their needs increased could also influence clients’ decisions not to access the care they had been assessed for.
Government response
Commenting on the report’s findings, Assistant Minister for Social Services Senator Mitch Fifield said the Federal Government reported to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and the annual Report on Government Services the time it took for an individual to enter aged care after an assessment has been made.
However, he said any delay between the assessment and entering aged care did not necessarily mean that older people were waiting to access the aged care services they needed.
“Improving information on the care options available and assisting people to make the right decision can substantially reduce the time between being assessed and accessing aged care services,” Senator Fifield told Australian Ageing Agenda.
The My Aged Care website and the national contact centre were important initiatives to improve consumer awareness, he said.
On the question of whether the Coalition Government supported industry calls to end the rationing of aged care services, Senator Fifield said he acknowledged there was “more work to be done” to meet increasing demand for aged care services into the future, but did not back any immediate plans to move to an entitlement system.
“This work must be informed by lessons learnt from the bedding down of the 1 July changes. I look forward to working with aged care providers, consumers and all levels of government to evaluate the impact of the 1 July changes, and to identify further reforms needed,” he said.
Read the research paper in full ‘Waiting times for Aged Care Packages: The need to know‘
Related AAA coverage: Renewed call to abolish aged care rationing
While this is an excellent codification of an issue that many within the industry already know, this does not accurately describe the situaiton across Australia.
In Victoria, where I am based, the HACC system is still joint funded by federal and state governments, with significant top-up from local council, who use rates to support the activites they are funded to provide. This program is implemented by the state government.
On the other hand, the wholly-federally-funded program (packaged care) is overseen by the federal government departments (once DoHA, now DSS). The gatekeepers are ACAS (as described in the article).
This article mis-represents the issue by stating that people spend a long time waiting for community care, which they can actually access through HACC. The key point is that the HACC system is providing a band-aid for an under-developed packaged care funding, and people who require care in the order of 6 hours per week (or more) who are waiting for a package are receiving this care through HACC.
The problem is accuratly described in that the packaged care system requires significant expansion to cater for all those who are deemed eligible.
This study only describes the situation in one small area of Queensland, then extrapolates this to a national conversation. To assume this makes an ass of U and Me. The study and article do not describe changes under Living Longer, Living Better/Aged Care Reform, which will bring the various states into line, but this will also see the CACP and EACH packages re-tooled into different client-directed care packages.