More in-home aged care packages to help frail older people

The number of in-home aged care packages in operation increased by nearly 6,000 from 32,646 in 2005 to 38,564 in 2006 according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The majority of the new packages, which provide services to people who might otherwise require residential care, were Community Aged Care Packages (CACP) which target people with low care needs.

About 900 of the additional packages were Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) packages which target frail older people with high care needs.

A further 600 were Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia (EACH Dementia) packages which provide help for people who, due to dementia, exhibit behaviours of concern such as agitation, night-time restlessness or wandering.

The provision ratio for all operational packages increased from 17.2 per 1,000 people aged 70 years and over in 2005, to 19.9 in 2006, nearly meeting the 2007 planning target of 20.

The majority (63%) of the 31,803 Community Aged Care Packages (CACP) recipients were aged 80 years and older, an increase from 59% in 2000. However, the strongest growth was in those aged 90 years or older who accounted for 15% of package recipients in 2006 compared with 12% six years earlier.