Industry consultants are predicting intense competition between providers in home care with a range of new players seeking to enter the government-subsidised market. Private providers, brokerage agencies and allied health services are among those applying for approval from the Department of Health to deliver home care packages. The new players are seeking to capitalise on the shake-up of the system in February 2017 that will see consumers free to choose their provider. The nu

Imagine living in a house with built-in technology that reminds you to take your medication or to buy toothpaste when the tube is running low. Perhaps it could even scan your body for a thermal reading to see if you really are sick enough to warrant a doctor’s visit. Or tell you that you’ve left a door unlocked. Welcome to the world of smart homes. It might sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but sensor technology in our houses is already starting to revoluti

Dr Henry Cutler analyses the potential implications of the Aged Care Roadmap proposals and identifies some key gaps such as the impact of the NDIS and the need for a robust quality performance framework. Recent aged care reforms have monumentally impacted residential care. They have changed the behaviours of care recipients, providers, and government, and shifted incentives for setting the price, quality and quantity of care and accommodation. Dr Henry Cutler With the low-han

MercyCare has announced a major expansion, with the Catholic not-for-profit provider buying a portfolio of residential aged care properties from Belrose Care. The acquisition, which was brokered by Azure Capital, covers four Belrose sites at Joondalup, Kelmscott, Maddington and Rockingham. The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, is expected to settle in late September. MercyCare said the Belrose homes added to its 40-year-old existing residential aged care facility a

Industry consultants are predicting intense competition between providers in home care with a range of new players seeking to enter the government-subsidised market. Private providers, brokerage agencies and allied health services are among those applying for approval from the Department of Health to deliver home care packages. The new players are seeking to capitalise on the shake-up of the system in February 2017 that will see consumers free to choose their provider. The nu

The Aged Care Roadmap sets out the market-based and consumer-driven aged care system of the future, but the path is not clear and the destination may change, leaving providers with potholes to avoid, says an aged care executive. Christadelphian Aged Care CEO Ross Peden described the Aged Care Roadmap as “a dog’s breakfast” because while it advocated a market-based consumer-driven approach, it did not offer a clear way of how to achieve it. However, he said the document still

Pioneering providers, researchers and advisors will come together at AAA’s Active Ageing Conference next week to share the latest evidence and practice on wellness, reablement and restorative care in aged care. With the government’s first restorative care packages being allocated this month, interest in wellness models in aged care is mounting. At the same time providers are still grappling with their new requirements to adopt wellness and reablement in home care and home sup

As it turns out, Singapore may have the solution to housing Australia’s rapidly ageing population. But whether Australians go for it is another question entirely. Speaking at an architecture forum Design Speaks: Housing Futures on Friday, architect Stephen Pimbley​ said Australia should follow in the footsteps of the land-poor island nation and embrace high-density apartment complexes. The Singapore-based director of Spark Architects recently unveiled his vision for a “Home F

Home is where the heart is? That certainly wasn’t the case in the article in the Herald Sun I read this week about a 91-year-old husband and his 83-year-old wife fighting it out in the Federal Circuit Court. The full story ‘The pensioners married 62 years ago, four years after meeting in 1950 when she was 17 and he was 25, and have four children aged between 56 and 60. The pair separated in 1986 but are not divorced and have never had a property settlement. “Ms Scott” — a pse

A new strain of gastroenteritis could be responsible for an outbreak affecting more than 3,000 people across New South Wales, health authorities have said. There has been a sharp increase in the number of people presenting at emergency departments with symptoms of the virus, including diarrhoea and vomiting. Health authorities have warned people to wash their hands and stay home if they have symptoms of gastroenteritis. NSW Health director of communicable diseases Vicky Shepp