{"id":1896,"date":"2023-02-06T01:30:52","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T01:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kangaroovalley.nsw.au\/valleyvoice\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2023-02-06T01:31:46","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T01:31:46","slug":"aged-care-in-australia-can-be-tricky-to-navigate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kangaroovalley.nsw.au\/valleyvoice\/2023\/02\/06\/aged-care-in-australia-can-be-tricky-to-navigate\/","title":{"rendered":"Aged care in Australia can be tricky to navigate"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a registered nurse, Belinda Davis thought she was in a pretty good position to help find the best aged care options for her ageing parents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But even with her background in healthcare, she found navigating the process challenging.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I cannot imagine how elderly people without computer literacy and skills are expected to navigate the system\u201d, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms Davis has battled her way through different parts of the aged care system for almost five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

She placed her father in an aged care home and organised home care for her late mother who had Parkinson’s disease.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said she spent hours on the phone to government portal My Aged Care<\/span>,<\/b> Centrelink, aged care homes and service providers, trying to get information.<\/span><\/p>\n

“No one person actually understands all of it\u201d, she said. “Every single person knows their little tiny bit of it. Talking to financial advisers and even they couldn’t understand.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The ABC has heard\u00a0stories of<\/span> confusion, frustration and despair<\/span> from other people encountering the system or who are already enmeshed in it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So how do you ensure that you or your loved one avoids the worst of the system and finds the best possible care?<\/span><\/p>\n

Where do you start?<\/b><\/p>\n

The first step is recognising when you, or your loved one, needs help and when living at home without support is no longer an option, according to Kyra-Bae Snell, the executive director of aged care consultancy group CareAbout.<\/span><\/p>\n

She wishes she could tell every Australian one thing: “Things change very quickly.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s important to be informed and know what’s available ahead of time,” she said. “Don’t put your head in the sand about the reality of ageing.”<\/span><\/p>\n

After that, the first port of call is My Aged Care, which is the gateway to the three main forms of aged care in Australia: the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), Home Care Packages, and residential aged care.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can access their website or call them on 1800 200 422.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CHSP is an entry-level package for people who need very basic domestic help, like a couple of hours of cleaning per week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Home care packages and residential aged care provide higher levels of support.<\/span><\/p>\n

But to access either of these, you need to get assessed by an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT).<\/span><\/p>\n

ACAT determines what sort of help is needed, how urgent it is, and whether it can be done in the home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Home care packages: what are they, and how do they work?<\/b><\/p>\n

This is for people who are able to remain at home but need a higher level of support than what the CHSP provides.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are four different types of home care packages depending on needs, and ACAT determines which one you’ll get.<\/span><\/p>\n