Aged care explained

Aged care is a term used to describe a range of services to support older people. This could be getting some home care assistance in your own home or moving into a nursing home. But it may also refer to community services, specific health care services delivered in a day centre setting, assisted living options or even products and equipment to assist anyone over 65 years old.

Support at home

The path to accessing support is different for everyone. For some the need for support is gradual and starts with a little bit of help every now and then, slowly increasing to more frequent and more intense assistance to remain living independent.

If you want to stay in your own home but need some support to help you manage better at home, there are a number of supports available to you depending on your circumstances.

You can choose to pay for help at home yourself or you can get support through Government funded programs such as the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) or the Home Care Packages (HCP) program. Others may only need short term supports to help them get back on their feet, such as respite or after a hospital stay. Both respite and transition care options can be provided by community care services in your own home through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme, or in a residential aged care home.

Residential aged care

There are also people that can no longer safely live on their own or are unable to return to their own home after a medical crisis and are in need of urgent alternative accommodation. These people will be looking for a suitable aged care home that meets their needs and preferences.

Entry into a Government funded aged care home requires an aged care assessment by and Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT). Another option are private aged care homes. These do not receive any Government funding and you won’t need to be assessed before you’re ale to move in.

Managing

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