New App to choose an RAC home
Bupa has developed an smartphone app to assist people to choose a residential aged care home for their loved one.
Minister for Ageing Mark Butler at the launch of Bupa’s Choosing a Care Home app
Picking out a residential aged care home to best suit the client’s needs has just got easier with the launch of a smartphone app that assists you to search, assess and compare facilities against quality criteria.
Bupa’s Choosing a Care Home app for Apple mobile devices, along with a downloadable resource book for those who don’t have the required mobile device, was launched and tested by the Minister for Ageing, Mark Butler, at Bupa Windsor in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The need for aged care often occurs suddenly and can be a stressful time for families, said Marg Ryan, Bupa’s Head of Dementia Services.
“The app and booklet guide you to assess care from a resident’s viewpoint based upon what you experience at the home,” Ms Ryan said.
The app will help people find the right home to meet the individual needs of their loved one, she said.
The app lets consumers search for aged care homes by suburb or postcode and then get directions.
They can then be guided to evaluate how well the home caters to needs with a look, listen and feel checklist.
Finally all results can be reviewed on one screen to help decide on the best home for a loved one’s needs.
The resources use a new rating system called the Seven Signposts of quality person-centred care.
It was developed by Bupa in consultation with the Alzheimer’s Australia Consumer Dementia Research Network, which is made up of people living with dementia and carers of people living with dementia.
“While the app has been developed with a focus on people living with dementia, the principles of person-centred care apply to everyone entering residential aged care,” Ms Ryan said.
“Bupa believes if a person’s individual needs are acknowledged and met in a caring and supportive environment then a sense of wellbeing will ensue – this is a person-centred care approach.”
You can download the app from iTunes for free. Search for ‘Choosing a Care Home’.
For more information on the app or to download the booklet, see Bupa’s Choosing a Care Home page.
