Tag: Ageing

Understanding National Advance Care Planning Week: A Vital Step Towards Informed Healthcare Decision-Making

We’re celebrating National Advance Care Planning Week (18-24 March), a time dedicated to fostering informed healthcare decision-making and advocating for proactive health planning.

What is Advance Care Planning?

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a collaborative process aimed at preparing individuals for their future healthcare needs. It is a voluntary and ongoing dialogue that ensures one’s healthcare preferences and values are documented and respected. Through ACP, individuals can articulate their treatment preferences, end-of-life care wishes, and medical directives.

The Benefits of Advance Care Planning

The advantages of engaging in Advance Care Planning are multifaceted:

  • Consistent Care Delivery: ACP helps guarantee that individuals receive care that aligns with their wishes and values, even if they are unable to communicate their preferences in the future.
  • Enhanced End-of-Life Care: By outlining preferences in advance, individuals can receive more personalised and satisfactory end-of-life care.
  • Improved Communication: Advance Care Planning encourages open and honest communication between individuals, their families, and healthcare professionals, fostering mutual understanding and respect.
  • Reduced Moral Distress: Families and caregivers experience less moral distress when they are aware of their loved one’s healthcare preferences, making difficult decisions more manageable.
  • Prevention of Unwanted Treatments: ACP may help prevent unnecessary or unwanted medical interventions and treatments, ensuring that care remains focused on the individual’s goals and quality of life.

Empowering Individuals Through Information

At Reliant, we recognise the importance of Advance Care Planning in promoting individual autonomy and quality healthcare. We are committed to providing resources, guidance, and support to help individuals and families navigate the ACP process.

For more information on Advance Care Planning and how you can get started, please reach out to our compassionate team of healthcare professionals, and find information and conversation starters on the Advance Care Planning Australia website.

Let’s use National Advance Care Planning Week as an opportunity to prioritise our health and wellbeing, and to take proactive steps towards shaping our healthcare futures.

Explainer: Government Funded Home Care Packages

The journey of looking after ourselves as we age, or of providing care for those around us often involves navigating a complex landscape of support options, specially when it comes to understanding government-funded Home Care Packages (HCPs). At Reliant, we are committed to empowering individuals with knowledge and providing transparent access to care services. Here, we aim to demystify HCPs, offering insights and guidance for individuals and their support network seeking the best possible care.

1. What are Home Care Packages?

Home Care Packages are government-funded programs designed to support and assist older Australians who wish to maintain their independence in their own homes. Reliant Healthcare offers a range of tailored services, including personal care, domestic assistance, nursing care, and allied health services, to meet those individual needs.

2. Levels of Home Care Packages:

There are four levels of Home Care Packages, ranging from Level 1 (basic care needs) to Level 4 (high-level care needs). Our experienced team at Reliant Healthcare can guide you through the assessment process, ensuring you receive the appropriate level of funding for the services you require.

3. Accessing a Home Care Package:

To access a Home Care Package, the first step is to contact My Aged Care, the government’s central entry point for aged care services. Reliant Healthcare can provide support throughout the assessment process, ensuring your needs are accurately assessed and understood. If you are approved for a HCP, you will be advised of the Level at which you have been assessed.

It is important to note that there is a distinction between being approved for a Home Care Package, and being assigned that Home Care Package. There can be a lengthly delay between being approved for a Home Care Package, and having that package assigned. Many Reliant clients who require immediate assistance opt to receive privately paid services which can commence immediately, while they wait for their their package to be assigned.

4. Cost and Subsidies:

Home Care Packages are subsidised by the Australian government, and Reliant Healthcare is committed to providing transparent information about the associated costs. We can help you understand the different types of fees, including the basic daily fee, income-tested fee, and additional fees for specific services, ensuring you have a clear picture of the financial aspects.

5. Choosing a provider:

Once approved for a Home Care Package, individuals can choose their preferred care provider. This choice empowers them to select a provider that aligns with their values and offers services tailored to their needs. At Reliant, we are dedicated to providing quality care services and transparent guidance throughout the process. We want to be your trusted partner in navigating Home Care Packages, ensuring you or those who are important to you, receive the support they deserve to live a fulfilling and independent life.

A National Plan

At Reliant we see our role as central in ensuring that our elders live their best lives – with dignity and independence.

This week we were honoured to attend the 5th National Elder Abuse Conference in Sydney, along with leaders from government, academia, law, healthcare leaders and trailblazers. Although only the 5th time this conference has been held, attendance reached over 560 delegates and it is heartening that elder abuse in Australian society is increasingly gaining mainstream attention.

Also significant was that at the conference the Commonwealth Attorney-General, Christian Porter MP announced Australia’s first National Plan to address elder abuse (which was a key recommendation of the 2017 Australian Law Reform Commission Report Elder Abuse – a National Legal Response). Stimulating discussion and presentations from a range of speakers, from Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG to Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP made for a very thought-provoking 2-day conference. Our sincere thanks to the Seniors Rights Service for such a fantastic event.

We were proud to play a role in developing the final conference statement, an extract of which you can read below.

“Our call to action to all governments in Australia: there is no excuse not to act nationally NOW against Elder Abuse.

Come together to create and fully resource the strong, effective, nationally consistent and accountable change needed to:

  • Create respectful cultures that value older people within our diverse country and communities (a whole of community shift) to prevent an epidemic of abuse against older people
  • Deliver early intervention and empower older people
  • Support and safeguard those older persons experiencing abuse.

Involve older people and all the key stakeholders in developing the National Plan to address Elder Abuse to ensure all older people experience dignity, their rights and personal wellbeing as a daily way of life.”

LGBTI Ageing Health Outcome Strategy

Dr Justin Koonin, Alexandra Conroy, Kathryn Greiner, Auntie Millie Ingram at the launch of ACON's Ageing Health Outcomes Strategy 2017-2021
Dr Justin Koonin, Alexandra Conroy, Kathryn Greiner, Auntie Millie Ingram at the launch of ACON’s Ageing Health Outcomes Strategy 2017-2021

We were very proud to help launch ACON’s new Ageing Health Outcome Strategy 2017-2021 which outlines the health disparities, and needs, of older members of the LGBTI community. We were invited to share our experiences in catering for the needs of our older LGBTI clients. 

The Productivity Commission’s 2011 report, Caring for Older Australians, recommended an emphatic focus on consumer-directed choice in aged care, highlighting the need for the system to be overhauled so it could accommodate not only a significant increase in numbers, but also a more diverse range of seniors with a less homogenous set of requirements. The Ageing Strategy will seek to develop healthy ageing programs, including those to address social isolation, increase uptake of healthy ageing behaviours, and to support self-management skills and capacity for self-advocacy.

Reliant  provides truly consumer directed care and place huge emphasis on enabling people to live their lives as they choose and to facilitate that choice. We are proud of our commitment to encouraging clients to be themselves and of our service to our clients who are members of the LGBTI community.