Aged Care

DocK · 18 June 2016

cynic said:
I consider myself fortunate in not having been faced with this regrettable situation.

Like yourself, I would not automatically take the word of any broker (given that their financial motivations may compromise the impartiality of their advice).

Have you directed this question to the care facilities that you're interested in?

They just might be able to confirm or refute the claims of the brokers.

Yes, when asked both facilities said it wouldn't make any difference - but then they would say that of course. There are so many regulations around aged care that they wouldn't dare admit to "managing" a waiting list I suppose. It's hard to know who to believe. On the one hand we have brokers saying if you don't use us you'll wait much longer for a vacancy, but a nursing home who denies priority is given to brokers. Yet everyone from Mum's GP, the lovely people who run a day respite centre, a dementia case worker etc all advising us to use a broker "to make everything easier and faster". I suspect some people find all the paperwork and payment options and terminology a bit hard to navigate and maybe that's why brokers seem to be so popular, but we've already handled all of that stuff. I guess I was wondering if anyone had been in my situation and upon using a broker found vacancies started appearing. It just goes against the grain to pay for a service when I've already done most of the work - but the couple of brokers I've spoken with wouldn't consider discounting their $700 - $1000 fee even though most of the work they'd normally do has been done already. I'm also skeptical about some of the places they may find vacancies - they're useless to us if they are in facilities we wouldn't consider for Mum. It might just boil down to engaging one if only so we can rest easy that we've done all that we can to improve her situation as quickly as possible, even if I suspect it may be a waste of money.

cynic · 18 June 2016

If you haven't already done so, another avenue of investigation might be to make informal enquiries of organisations such as Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, Wesley , Baptists etc.

Drawing from their experience assisting community members, they may have some insights to offer.

macca · 18 June 2016

If it were me, as the two potential places have been decided, I would not use a broker.

I would ask do they have day programs and take my Mum to that program, if not then I would simply stay in touch with them on a regular basis enquiring about her position on the waiting list.

DocK · 18 June 2016

cynic said:
If you haven't already done so, another avenue of investigation might be to make informal enquiries of organisations such as Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, Wesley , Baptists etc.

Drawing from their experience assisting community members, they may have some insights to offer.

That's a great idea, thanks. I'll hit the phone on Monday.

DocK · 18 June 2016

macca said:
If it were me, as the two potential places have been decided, I would not use a broker.

I would ask do they have day programs and take my Mum to that program, if not then I would simply stay in touch with them on a regular basis enquiring about her position on the waiting list.

Agree with the regular contact. I intend to phone weekly/fortnightly to see if any vacancies have come up. I'm kinda hoping they give Mum a room just to avoid my calls I have heard from various sources that the key to ensuring good care for relatives in aged care facilities is to visit as often as possible - staff are therefore aware that there will be a keen pair of eyes visiting on a random and regular basis.

basilio · 2 November 2019

The Royal Commission into Aged Care has handed down interim findings.
I suppose most of us are already Aware of how the industry works as we negotiate c are for our parents and friends.

What are peoples thoughts on the Commissions interim findings and where we might go ?

PM promises more funding after aged care system found to be 'harmful' and underfunded
The aged care royal commission’s interim report describes aged care in Australia as a ‘shocking tale of neglect’
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ful-and-underfunded-say-inquiry-commissioners

basilio · 3 November 2019

One of interesting observations about the Royal Coission into Aged care is.... that we really haven't heard much about it have we ?

In fact if you weren't looking you could easily miss the stories and the very powerful interim report .

Aged care royal commission has had a third of the coverage of banks' bad behaviour. It doesn't add up
By Anne Connolly, ABC Investigations
Updated 30 minutes ago

Photo: The aged care royal commission's interim report provides the most comprehensive assessment of the sector's problems yet. (Unsplash: rawpixel)
Related Story: Aged care system a 'shocking tale of neglect', royal commission finds
Related Story: The secret camera in the digital clock tells a troubling story
Related Story: After the slow drip of horror, a new report holds the first clue to change
"A sad and shocking system that diminishes Australia as a nation".

"Inhumane, abusive and unjustified".

"Cruel and discriminating".

After 10 months of hearings and investigations into aged care, Commissioners Lynelle Briggs and the late Richard Tracy listed the most shocking findings in their interim report on Thursday: death from septicaemia from untreated wounds; residents left in urine or faeces; dreadful food; a high incidence of assaults by staff and residents; common use of physical restraints and overprescribing of drugs to sedate residents.

"It is shameful that such a list can be produced in 21st century Australia," they wrote.

They are words that are ready-made front-page headlines. These are pronouncements that TV news and current affairs live for.

This is a report for journalists to pore over, to provide analysis and follow-ups with personal stories of the thousands of victims of this system.

But while some editors did splash with it for Friday's newspapers, by lunchtime it had disappeared off news websites almost entirely.

Comparing the media coverage of the aged care and banking royal commissions shows a stark imbalance.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-03/aged-care-royal-commission-coverage-imbalance/11666490

Toyota Lexcen · 3 November 2019

It's an area which I will be experiencing in the next few years.

My parents are just 80 and are hitting a few hurdles, my brother is very close to them and things okay.

Another is a very close friend. No brother or sister, no children and family interstate. Currently working on home care package, home assistance companies etc.

As much as chemical restraint may be frowned upon, put your hand up if you have looked after someone with dementia. It is tough going. My friend looked after both parents.

Going to be a challenge for any government

basilio · 3 November 2019

Other thoughts on the situation
How can I tell my patients they'll be fine in a nursing home? Our trust in the industry was misplaced
Ranjana Srivastava
There is one conversation in medicine that I hate having: telling patients they need residential care
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-home-our-trust-in-the-industry-was-misplaced

Toyota Lexcen · 3 November 2019

Nearly half don’t get visitors. Read somewhere this is closer to 60%.

Always remember Mick Molloy (comedian) talking about bowls clubs, RsL’s, seniors group and how inspirational he found these people. Get amongst them, they are phenomenal people.

basilio · 3 November 2019

Heard a brilliant story recently.
An aged care facility offered local university students free room and board in return for 30 hours a month interaction with residents. Not a formal deal. Just chatting, be around, being a bright interesting youthful voice

Apparently it really gave the people a lift to have this positive change in the environment. And the students got a kick out of it as well.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-30/free-rent-to-live-in-a-nursing-home/11534036

sptrawler · 3 November 2019

Aged care has improved a lot, over the last 30 years, my wife worked as an RN in C class hospitals all her working career.
IMO it is a sad situation with the Australian culture, that because of our transient nature through our working careers, we don't tend to have strong inter generational ties. Well that has been my observation in W.A.
Unlike Europe and even Asia, where several generations have lived in the same Town for centuries and the younger generation look after the older generations.
Once a person stops working in Australia, they are to a degree made redundant by society and the older they get the more invisible they become.
I can't understand what they expect from a Royal Commission, the last thing politicians want is to spend more on old people, as the recent policies proved, IMO they actually want to take more off older people.
So it will be interesting to see where it all ends up.
Toyota Lexen has been the closest to the reality. IMO
This article sums it up pretty well.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-03/aged-care-royal-commission-coverage-imbalance/11666490
From the article:
The theory in media circles is that the banking royal commission was big news because "everyone has a bank account". There seems to be no corresponding extrapolation for aged care — "everyone grows old".

More truthful perhaps would be an admission that aged care isn't "sexy": it's thought not to sell papers or attract younger readers online.

But this ignores the crucial role the media plays in political and social outcomes. So when almost $20 billion goes into aged care each year, isn't that worth similar journalistic scrutiny to the banks?

As the interim report says: "The aged care sector prides itself in being an 'industry' and it behaves like one. This masks the fact that 80 per cent of its funding comes directly from Government coffers."

Yet when the new Minister for Aged Care, Richard Colbeck, fronted up to face the media last Thursday afternoon, there was just a handful of reporters in the room.

Smurf1976 · 4 November 2019

sptrawler said:
IMO it is a sad situation with the Australian culture, that because of our transient nature through our working careers, we don't tend to have strong inter generational ties.

That just prompted an interesting realisation.

Vast majority of my friends have lived in at least two states or have lived overseas at some point in their life. Lived as in lived which was intended to be permanent at the time, not just visiting as a tourist or on some temporary work assignment.

So yes, people are pretty mobile these days.

As for the aged care, well mum's in the nursing home, the house is sold and settles at the end of the month. The home seems fine, I've made an unannounced visit to check it out and she spent some time there previously on a temporary basis, so now just sorting out the paperwork and financials as the full $ hasn't been paid yet.

Anyone have any comments regarding that financial aspect?

chiff · 4 November 2019

My wife still gets a call to go to aged care facilities on a contract basis...I suppose her title is nurse advisor..she is 70 herself...up with all the financials ,funding instruments care etc..With the financials it depends if one is concessional in a government facility,non-profit facility or private (for profit) home.I am trying to call these places homes and not facilities.
I notice a facility at Murchison vic went broke.Income did not cover expenditure.When residents are admitted they are vetted by the manager to see if they will be profitable,get a good ACFI score and hence good government funding (Aged Care Funding Instrument)If too many people with low ACFI scores are admitted ,funding is curtailed accordingly.A lot of residents with low funding should,and are good enough ,to still be in their own homes and not in care.
The days are gone when people arrived with their suitcase and their vehicle parked out the front to be admitted to a facility.
Having said all of this it is up to management to make the residents' lives as meaningful and pleasant as possible.This is what inspectors are looking at as a priority.In the end the most important aspect is more funding ,for more dedicated staff to assist in this,and recognise, and meet ,the needs the of individuals.I know in our areas these things are a priority-belated though they are.

chiff · 4 November 2019

chiff said:
My wife still gets a call to go to aged care facilities on a contract basis...I suppose her title is nurse advisor..she is 70 herself...up with all the financials ,funding instruments care etc..With the financials it depends if one is concessional in a government facility,non-profit facility or private (for profit) home.I am trying to call these places homes and not facilities.
I notice a facility at Murchison vic went broke.Income did not cover expenditure.When residents are admitted they are vetted by the manager to see if they will be profitable,get a good ACFI score and hence good government funding (Aged Care Funding Instrument)If too many people with low ACFI scores are admitted ,funding is curtailed accordingly.A lot of residents with low funding should,and are good enough ,to still be in their own homes and not in care.
The days are gone when people arrived with their suitcase and their vehicle parked out the front to be admitted to a facility.
Having said all of this it is up to management to make the residents' lives as meaningful and pleasant as possible.This is what inspectors are looking at as a priority.In the end the most important aspect is more funding ,for more dedicated staff to assist in this,and recognise, and meet ,the needs the of individuals.I know in our areas these things are a priority-belated though they are.

Just got some more advice...when admitting residents one should not admit all high care residents ,just to maximise funding.With a mix of residents high care to low care ,you are not flogging your staff to death.They should be motivated to go to work without the hard slog continually.More funding and staff helps all of this.The budget should be managed without devastating the staff.

DocK · 4 November 2019

We have noted that the appraisal done by the nursing home my mother lives in tends to make her out to be higher care than she really is, no doubt to maximise govt funding. Mum is happy and much less bored than she would be if still at home, but gets frustrated at times with the overuse of agency staff, rather than regular staff that she knows and who know her. Meals could be of better quality at times, but she is happy and well cared for. One of the luckier ones. My aunt is at home on her own with Alzheimer's, by choice, and we manage with almost daily visits funded mostly via an aged care package. The package took a long time to be funded after she was assessed and approved, eventually My Aged Care staff admitted to me that someone had to die to release funds to enable new packages to be funded. This aspect of aged care needs urgent attention imo.

basilio · 9 September 2020

Very challenging story today on how aged care packages are being funded and used by families.
Long story short (but well worth reading..)

1) The Government is just not actually funding the aged care packages it promised
2) The various homecare package administrators are making out like bandits on the "Admin Fees" they charge
3) From an investment POV it could be well worth checking out the companies making the most gravy from these packages
4) This is another prime example of how letting market forces operate in the Aged Care sector is a license to enable maximum commercial return. Check out the last story in the article.

Thousands die waiting for funds in already approved homecare packages
The homecare system was labelled unfair, cruel and discriminatory in the interim report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care in November last year which called on the Government to cut the waiting list.
But almost a year later, Department of Health figures obtained by the ABC show just over 7,000 extra packages have been delivered — less than half the number Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced he would fund.
In November last year, he promised 10,000 extra packages and in July he announced 6,000 more.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09...t-for-home-care-packages-and-upgrade/12622558

sptrawler · 14 September 2020

It is funny how people change, Keating got rid of the death tax, now it looks as though he might as well have kept it.

HECS for aged care: seniors groups cautiously welcome Keating's plan

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating once advocated for a national insurance scheme to pay for aged care, but his thinking has shifted towards a radical new proposal.

www.theage.com.au

From the article:
Former prime minister Paul Keating says the ballooning cost of aged care should be met by a HECS-style funding model, where every Australian is extended a loan to pay for their care and the costs are recovered from each individual's estate.

He brushed away the suggestion that it might be viewed as a "death tax".

"If there's not assets there then the Commonwealth pays, but it's a very nice way of working out what the Commonwealth should really pay vis-a-vis the residual assets of an aged person in superannuation or bricks and mortar assets etc."

noirua · 19 July 2021

Cut Your Odds of a Stroke

You may not be able to change your genes, but there are some things you can do to lower your risk of a stroke. Find out what they are from WebMD.

www.webmd.com

noirua · 23 April 2022

Transient ischaemic attack (TIA)

A transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or "mini stroke" is caused by a temporary disruption in the blood supply to part of the brain.

The disruption in blood supply results in a lack of oxygen to the brain.

This can cause sudden symptoms similar to a stroke, such as speech and visual disturbance, and numbness or weakness in the face, arms and legs.

But a TIA does not last as long as a stroke. The effects last a few minutes to a few hours and fully resolve within 24 hours.

---

A TIA is a warning sign that you may be at risk of having a full stroke in the near future, and an assessment can help doctors determine the best way to reduce the chances of that happening.

If you think you may have had a TIA previously, but the symptoms have passed and you did not seek medical advice at the time, make an urgent appointment with a GP.

Aged Care

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