Title: Assessment Tools for Aged Care in Australia
Background:
• Australians over 65 are referred to as older people and make up the “aged” population.
• The aged care sector operates under the Aged Care Act 1997 and Aged Care (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 that came into effect in July 2014.
• As part of National Health reform in 2011, the Council of Australian Governments agreed to transfer all funding and operational responsibility of aged care support services for people over 65 years to the Commonwealth Government. (COTA, 2014).
• Public expenditure on aged care was $12.5 billion in 2011, increasing to $13.3 billion in 2012-2013. Additionally, subsidized informal care expenditure was an estimated $1.8 billion (Department of Social Services, 2013).
• Taxpayer funding makes up 93% of aged care expenditure (ARC Centre for Excellent in Population Ageing Research, 2014).
• The number of older Australians is expected to grow more than 4 times in the next 40 years to a estimated 1.8 million people by 2050 (The Australian Government Treasury, 2010). As a result, expenditure for aged care is projected to increase by 1% of the total GDP by 2050 (National Seniors Australia, 2010).
Figure 1. Aged Care Expenditure as Percentage GDP (National Seniors Australia, 2010)
• Major components contributing to this increasing expenditure trend are increases in income support for seniors, residential and flexible care, home support, ageing and service improvement and allowances for
In 1901 just 4.0% of the Australian population were older people and after two decades this has increased to 6.4%. In 2011 the aged population continued to increase and reached 14%. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (Abs.gov.au, 2012) indicates that since the baby boomers are now becoming old, there has been a decrease in fertility rates and an increase in life expectancy. The population of people over 65 years has continued to increase and it is predicted that it will continue to increase for the next 50 years. As people become older they are more susceptible to becoming sick and in need of government benefits. Since there is a major
The main concern about long-term care is providing the money to pay for individuals and care providers. “As a result, policymakers are considering several proposals for substantial reform. These fall under three categories: Shifting the focus of Medicaid long-term benefits to home care, expanding the long-term care and geriatric workforce, and restructuring the means of finance” (Gleckman, 2009). Federal and state have agreed that many individuals should think about long-term care insurance. In fact, federal and state have discussed providing tax credits and deductions for buying long-term care insurance.
The human species of the world are growing older, and existing longer. Research shows that the average life expectancy of humans living past the age of 80, since the 1800s to that of 2011, has increased by almost 10% per year, with women leading the way with a growth expectancy growing from that of 6.4% to that of 9.6%, surpassing their male counterpart whose life expectancy show an increase from 5.9% to that of 8.2%. As the human life expectancy increases, there also comes an increase concerns by individuals and government official alike in regards to elder care. This literature looks at what is being carried out by individuals as well as government officials to deal with the cost of living longer. We will examination approaches identified
We can’t purport to have a national goal to “eliminate health disparities” and continue to accept the social inequities that come from such a major gap in wealth. If we hope to solve the pressing issues of eldercare, these inequities must be addressed head on now and in the future. Otherwise, those who are caregivers now may not have access to the care they will need in the future.
The Elder Justice Act was passed on March 23, 2010 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as the first piece of federal legislation to allow funds to address elder abuse, neglect and exploitation nationwide (Federal Laws, 2015). Part I of the Elder Abuse Act is the Elder Justice Coordinating Council made up of federal government representatives charged with the responsibility of coming up with programs for the promotion of elder justice. They have to provide recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on the issues of abuse, neglect and exploitation of the elderly. Then there are 27 professionals from the general public who are to give recommendations to the Coordinating Council as well. Part II of the Elder Justice Act talks about funding and enhancing long-term care. Long-term care is important because you need programs committed to training long-term staff,
This system must be able to promote independence through better coordination of care which will lead to a healthy elderly population. The introduction of The Care Act 2014 is a significant improvement in the care sector but this has been made almost inactive at the local level by the continuous cuts to local government a budget that has, in turn, resulted in the quantity and quality of social care service made available for older people. Majority of the residents in France who are of working age alongside their employers are made to pay compulsorily into state guaranteed mutual funds apart from their national insurance contributions. This makes more money available to them at retirement. Britain needs to copy a leaf from their booklet.
There has been an increasingly large amount of awareness placed on the governments role in prevention and standards for the control of health care and communicable diseases. In this growing effort are provisions applying to long-term health and stipulations for proper treatment and care. Gradually, a shift from local community efforts to care for the elder has transferred to a prominent government role. Several committees have been created to assist with the implementation and over view of care and acts to instigate change. Amongst the major changes that have been set in place effecting long-term care, was the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935 and Medicaid insurance.
This paper focuses on aging in Australia, the different policies and services for the aging population, and provides some examples about what it would be like to age in Australia. First, it is important to understand the age care policy in Australia. There are four different components to this policy: the old-aged pension system, pursuit of the aging-in-place policy, self-funded services and supports, and residential and frail aged care. The aged care policy in Australia is “built on the premise of independence and individualization and assumes that older people will remain in the community for as long as they are able to” (Gray & Heinsch, 2009, p. 108). In order to
Current numbers show substantial growth from the eighties, and estimates suggest that the demand for long term care among the elderly will more than double in the next thirty years. (Feder, Komisar, and Niefeld) This growth will exacerbate concerns about balancing institutional and noninstitutional care, assuring quality of care, and most importantly adopting and sustaining financing mechanisms that equitably and adequately protect the elderly who need long-term care.
First of all, older people consume a larger proportion of public services. For example, they require more health and social
Taking care of the individuals that are getting older takes many different needs. Most of these needs cannot be given from the help of a family. This causes the need of having to put your love one into a home and causing for the worry of how they will be treated. It is important for the family and also the soon to be client to feel at home in their new environment. This has been an issue with the care being provided for each individual, which has lead to the need of making sure individuals have their own health care plan.
Australia is one of the most advantaged aged care systems in the world. The increasing numbers of ageing population is one of the major transformations being experienced by
The increases occurring in life expectancy re ect the improvement of healthcare and medical advances in Australia, the improvements in aged-care management, and behavioural changes such as improvements in diet and lower rates of smoking.
Experience working in the field of health care lends insight to the growing needs of the older adult population, and the barriers which impede our capacity to meet them. As the Baby Boomer age is approaching older adulthood, the rise for financial,
In recent years, the number of people who live in nursing homes in England, Wales and Scotland has been increasing. Some people believe that the family should pay for the care of nursing homes. However, I argue that the government should take responsibility for the cost. The first reason is that some people are too old to pay for the care of other family members and the second reason is that some families cannot afford to pay for the care.