If it still seems a tad confusing, take heart. The government has confirmed it will work to consolidate the Home Care Packages Program and the Commonwealth Home Support Program into one single home care system from July 2018.
If you or someone you know receives any form of care or other support at home, you might know that 1 July this year is a key date in the so called ‘aged care reform’ process. If you don’t receive any support or care services, but you might be interested in the future, you also need to know.
Right now we are approaching a key, three year milestone in a reform process that began in 2012 with the then Gillard Government. The aim was to reshape the aged care system which was widely agreed to be complex, disjointed and hard to negotiate, not to mention inadequate to growing demand and changing expectations of consumers.
The broad objective of the reform process was to create a “flexible and seamless system” that could “provide older Australians with more choice, control and easier access to a full range of services.”
Among the reforms was big emphasis on people being supported to stay at home, rather than having to go into residential care. The number of home care packages were substantially boosted and a new system of ‘consumer directed care’ was introduced.
‘Consumer directed care’, commonly referred to as ‘CDC’, is a new way of delivering care and support services where ‘the customer knows best’.
Customer knows best
‘Consumer directed care’, commonly referred to as ‘CDC’, is a new way of delivering care and support services where ‘the customer knows best’. This means that the person getting the service makes the decisions about what mix of assistance and supports they’d like to have to best fit the way they want to live.
It’s different to the old system whereby your choices were pretty much limited to what the particular service provider could offer and how they were prepared to offer it. It is an approach already happening, or in the process of being taken on, by many aged care and support systems around the world.
In Australia there was a staged introduction to the CDC system over three years, to ensure consumers, government and service providers all had time to adjust to the changes and iron out the inevitable teething problems.
The third and final stage of CDC commences very soon – on 1 July 2015. From that date, all home care packages – including existing ones that were set up under the old system – must be, or become, ‘consumer directed’.
New ‘Entry point’ for home based care.
The other key milestone event in home care which takes place on 1 July is the commencement of the Commonwealth Home Support Program (again, a catchy abbreviation: CHSP).
The CHSP combines three previously separate programs into a single program they describe as ‘more streamlined’, to provide what is described as ‘entry level’ support services for older people – to help them maximise their independence. This is how they describe its role:
“Through the delivery of timely, high quality basic support services centred around each person’s individual goals, preferences and choices- and underpinned by a strong emphasis on wellness and reablement- the Programme will help its clients stay living in their own homes for as long as they can and wish to do so.”
Those programs being amalgamated are the National Respite for Carers Program, the Day Therapy Centres Program and the Commonwealth HACC (Home and Community Care) Program and together they provide basic maintenance, care, support and respite services for older people living in the community, and their carers.
If you live in Victoria or Western Australia, note that there are some variations to this program due to a disagreement in the Commonwealth-State negotiations with those two states when the legislation was going through.
You may have even heard the word, ‘reablement’ being bandied around and wondered, is that a word?
The ‘reablement’ philosophy
Did you note the reference to “a strong emphasis on wellness and reablement “ in the government’s description a couple of paragraphs above? Another element of the aged care reforms we are seeing reflected in the new system is a shift in the philosophy behind providing care and support services.
It is an important shift in thinking and emphasis, away from providing services that ‘do for’ people – an approach that invariably leads to further deterioration of the person’s skills and ability and a loss of confidence and control – toward providing services and assistance to help people regain ability and skills and retain as much independence and control as they can.
We all hear a lot about that concept of ‘wellness’ these days. You may have even heard the word, ‘reablement’ being bandied around and wondered, is that a word? It is, but a relatively new one.
Of course, in the context of services being ‘consumer directed’, nobody is going to stop you choosing to have things ‘done for’ you, and sometimes that is the only solution, but the important thing is that you have choices. For some people, who might be recovering from surgery or a fall, for instance, some short term but intensive rehabilitation, some back-up support and maybe a new clothes dryer (for instance), might be preferable to relinquishing control of all the housework or the beloved garden to someone else.
The new home care landscape
So, if you’re looking for assistance from July 1, your at-a-glance starting point for Government funded options, all of which are ‘consumer directed’ are:
- The Commonwealth Home Support Program
- Home Care Packages Program – of which there are four levels
If it still seems a tad confusing, take heart. The government has confirmed it will work to consolidate the Home Care Packages Program and the Commonwealth Home Support Program into one single home care system from July 2018. Hooray!
Meanwhile, the best starting points for information are still:
Home Care Today – This is a national service hosted by COTA Australia to inform and support people entering the new consumer-directed home care system and it’s a good place to start
My Aged Care – This is the Government’s ‘gateway’ to all aged care services, hosted by the Department of Social Services. It’s often referred to as the ‘one-stop-shop’ and it has pretty much everything you need to know.
You can also find lots of information on the websites of particular service providers and other independent consultancy services on aged care but these two sources are the official ones and the best place to start.
