Residents frailer than ever
Nursing home care has become more intensive and patients are likely to be frailer, according to Robyn Batten, chief executive of aged care organisation, Blue Care. She remembers how, not so long ago, elderly people would often drive themselves to a nursing home to check in, whereas elderly residents are now more likely to arrive in wheelchairs.
Nursing home care has become more intensive and patients are likely to be frailer, according to Robyn Batten, chief executive of aged care organisation, Blue Care.
She remembers how, not so long ago, elderly people would often drive themselves to a nursing home to check in, whereas elderly residents are now more likely to arrive in wheelchairs.
Ms Batten tells The Sydney Morning Herald the “changing tempo” of nursing home care has been highlighted by a forecast of the sharp rise in nursing home subsidies revealed in the federal government’s midyear economic forecast which was released last week.
Reports have shown people are “entering residential aged care facilities with greater care needs than previously anticipated”.
Ms Batten, whose non-profit organisation operates 4,500 nursing home beds in Queensland and NSW, says there have been a “marked change” in the ratio of high-care to low-care patients, whose care status determines what level of subsidy
the government pays the aged care facility.
The report’s trends reflect a “fantastic” development in that it shows more people are able to remain in their own homes for longer before entering nursing homes because of the increasing availability of supportive home and community
care.
However, by the time they arrived at nursing homes, they were likely to have multiple conditions needing more care. About 60% of nursing home patients also reportedly have some level of dementia.
Adding to the demands on staff include the changes to the atmosphere of nursing homes, including the staff’s social interaction with residents and their more demanding care needs, as well as more frequent bereavements and grieving
relatives.
If you are an aged care worker, or in the aged care industry, in your experience, do you find that the residents are entering the system frailer than before? Share your thoughts by commenting in the box below.
