Aged care gets boost in the right direction
Older Australians will receive the support they require to live independently in their own homes with the nationwide rollout of 700 Consumer Directed Care (CDC) packages.
Older Australians will receive the support they require to live independently in their own homes with the nationwide rollout of 700 Consumer Directed Care (CDC) packages.
The Department of Health and Ageing recently unveiled the new model, stating the expansion of the program would give an extra 700 older Australians access to a range of services to assist with day-to-day living.
Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, said the program’s expansion, which was allocated more than $15 million, was “personally tailored and flexible”.
“It is designed by the care recipient or their carers to meet their specific needs,” Mr Butler said.
The 700 packages include 500 low care, high care and dementia packages, and 200 consumer-directed respite care packages.
Mr Butler said the packages would be delivered via local aged care providers and Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centres.
The number of newly allocated CDC packages for each state and territory are:
New South Wales – 189
Queensland – 119
Western Australia – 94
South Australia – 99
Victoria – 109
Tasmania – 39
Northern Territory – 36
Australian Capital Territory – 15
A further $40 million will be provided to more than 140 Day Therapy Centres in 2011-12 to assist more than 127,000 clients across Australia.
The Day Therapy Centre Program provides a range of therapy services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and podiatry to frail older people living in the community. The program also provides services to residents of aged care homes to assist them in regaining or maintaining their physical and cognitive abilities.
