Support at Home participants have waited long enough
Effectively communicating Support at Home changes requires timely and tailored resources that make sense to your participants, but time is no longer on our side.
More than 285,000 home care package consumers are about to see big changes in the system, but most still aren’t sure exactly what these changes mean for them.
There is still a significant amount of confusion and plenty of questions coming from our workforce, consumers and families. And despite some information in the Support at Home Manual and FAQs, the department’s information for participants currently falls short of what we need right now.
Anna Millicer, home care expert and founder of the Home Care HQ newsletter, explains that before we begin, we need to understand who’s who in the new Support at Home program. Anna has created tailored resources that break down all the details into three distinct cohorts of participants: The grandfathered, the hybrids and the newbies.
“The system treats them all differently, and so must you,” says Anna.
“Home care participants are no different to any other customer in that they are mostly interested in stuff that affects and impacts them and their situation. So, breaking down the information into relatable and relevant content tailored to the individual participant context is a must.”
We all agree that it is super important to know how new entrants (the newbies) are going to experience the Support at Home program once they enter home care from 1 November 2025, but for the 285,000-plus participants transitioning to Support at Home, we need ways to explain what this all means for them, in a way that cuts to the chase, and importantly, cuts out the things that don’t apply to them.
Anna recommends approaching Support at Home communications from the following three key perspectives.
Grandfathered participants
For grandfathered participants, life under Support at Home will be mostly business as usual with a few adjustments. Same HCP funding level, same care plans, same co-contributions, continued access to any unspent HCP funds, flexibility to direct funds across service categories and types, but with new quarterly budgets and limits on saving unspent dollars for a rainy day.
There is more to it than just these details, but essentially, these participants will move into Support at Home with the same expectations of what their care partner and provider will do with and for them. But as we know, even small changes can create confusion, so it’s best to get ahead with communications to keep trust intact.
Hybrid participants
Transitional participants (the hybrid) will be treated much the same as their grandfathered peers, with the major exception of the personal contributions they will be required to pay out-of-pocket from 1 November 2025. This is a big deal for these participants and will likely cause a lot of concern if we’re not proactive and specific with our comms.
Hybrids will carry forward their HCP funding levels, HCP care plans, any unspent funds, and have automatic approval for all three service categories, but with quarterly budgets and savings limits, just like their grandfathered counterparts.
Many of these hybrid participants will continue to arrive on your doorstep once their funding is assigned, well after the 1 November 2025 commencement, so you’ll also be dealing with hybrids for years into the future.
With a foot in both the old HCP program and the new SaH program, hybrid participants need information using language that is direct and clear, and they require some special care and attention to make sure they know exactly what to expect.
Newbies
From a communications perspective, your grandfathered and hybrid participants should be your main priority right now. Newbies don’t actually exist as a cohort just yet, so it’s okay to leave the future Support at Home participant comms on the back burner (momentarily!) and focus on supporting your current consumers and families to understand what things will look like for them in the new program.
Why your Support at Home participant communications can’t wait
Consumers are looking to their providers for information, clarity and reassurance about what is coming their way, but many providers themselves are still getting their heads around the details and understandably prioritising their back-of-house preparations.
“It is not as simple as just sending participants one or two pages of information, or the link to the Support at Home manual. Without clear and tailored information, consumers may feel lost trying to figure out exactly which bits apply to them,” says Anna.
To bridge this gap, Anna and the Home Care HQ team have created a simplified set of tailored, colour-coded handbooks for each of the three Support at Home participant cohorts, ready for providers to share with their consumers, families and staff.
If you’re looking for ways to take the pressure off your team having to create your own tailored Support at Home content, these comprehensive participant resources are here to help.