An innovative trial in Western Australia has been piloting the concepts of client choice and control in the Home and Community Care program, including giving clients the option of engaging their own support worker. Linda Belardi reports. With consumer directed care now embedded across all home care packages, an Australian-first trial has sought to design and test a model of self-direction in Home and Community Care (HACC) in Western Australia. The project, which commenced in

The Victorian Government will introduce an independent registration and accreditation scheme for disability workers, becoming the first jurisdiction in the country to commit to the regulatory regime. Labor Premier Daniel Andrews said the scheme would protect people with a disability from harm and would ensure workers had “the right skills, experience and qualifications.” A spokesperson for the Premier confirmed to Community Care Review that an advisory group of experts, peopl

The Federal Government will invite 100 aged care providers to a special forum to share their views on the proposals for future reform of the sector put forward in the Aged Care Roadmap, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ken Wyatt has toldAustralian Ageing Agenda. The event, to take place in either Sydney or Melbourne in February, will be attended by a cross-section of providers representing metropolitan and rural and remote Australia as well as special needs groups

From 27 February 2017 a home care package will be allocated to a consumer, allowing the consumer to direct funding for their home care package to the provider of their choice. This change gives consumers a greater degree of choice in their preferred provider, as well as the type of care they receive. From mid-November 2016, the Department of Health will be sending letters to all clients with a current home care approval to notify them about the home care reforms and identify

Did you know there’s a change coming to Government funded Home Care? The Government is changing how aged care is delivered in Australia, working towards a system that aims to support and empower older Australians. The new Home Care changes may seem complex and you may be unsure how they’ll affect you (Source: Shutterstock) The next big step in aged care reforms will commence from 27 February 2017, with changes to the Home Care Packages (HCP) program, giving consumers more cho

As our study into the role and effects of regulation in aged and dementia care enters its final stages, some interesting findings are emerging, write Ashley Carr and Professor Simon Biggs. Amid concerns that the regulation of care stifles creativity and innovation or that recipients of aged care require greater levels of protection, a more in-depth understanding of why we regulate care, and what its real effects are, is needed. This is the aim of our study currently underway

This is a great summary of how the Residential and CDC Home Care Payment Statements and payments work. Of particular interest was the following comment by one of the DHS speakers that providers can only use the DHS letters on individual client Fees and Charges to alter that clients Fees and Charges, Providers cannot use the Payment Statement to change clients Fees and Charges. Check out the webinar once it has been uploaded for more details. Link to sample Residential Payment

I read a study from the UK that was completed over a decade ago that counties that had local doctors who prescribed less antibiotics had less hospital admissions for related illnesses. The assumption was the people and the bugs had less resistance in those counties. It is good to see more research, guidelines and awareness are being worked on. From the Minister for Health and Aged Care SUSSAN LEY MP. Antibiotic Awareness Week is a global health initiative to alert everyone t

Australia’s not-for-profit aged care peak bodies have outlined nine principles that should underpin the new financial model being developed as an alternative to the existing Aged Care Funding Instrument. As Australian Ageing Agenda reported last month, the Department of Health has commissioned the University of Wollongong to identify alternatives to ACFI (read that story here). The university’s work will include a review of international models, as well as methods used in rel

How often do you burn the toast? I don't mean overcook it a bit, I mean put the toast in so long smoke starts coming out of the slots. It's happened once or twice to all of us. Maybe you left the dial up too high; maybe the toast wasn't quite done, so you put it in for another go and forgot to pop it back up. The smoke rises, it sets off the smoke alarm and it ruins your nice calm breakfast. For most of your life, it is just a frustration, but David Panter, the chief executiv