Australia’s 5.2 million Baby Boomers want more funding for aged care are set to radically change the face of the aged care system forever, with demands for more funding, greater services in their own homes, and more interesting activities in communal facilities, according to new research by Not For Profit aged care and retirement living provider RSL LifeCare.
They hired an independent research firm to survey over 1,000 Australians aged 56 to 74 – and the findings show a clear shift in priorities for the next generation that will need aged care services.
Only 1% said they wanted to enter residential aged care in their current format, while three-quarters wanted to stay in their own home with occasional nursing visits.
Many said they would only move into care if their physical or mental needs forced them to, or if they became a burden on their families.
Baby Boomers want good, food, exercise, wellness and excursions
If they have to move into communal living, respondents said their most pressing concerns are quality of food, followed by access to exercise opportunities, ‘wellness support’ and then excursions.
A majority (67%) said if they had to move into communal living, they wanted to live in a small assisted living village with onsite care – like the continuum of care model with retirement villages, assisted living and residential care on one site that is being offered by an increasing number of providers.
RSL LifeCare CEO Laurie Leigh said these changing generational tastes meant that Baby Boomers were poised to change the aged care system forever.
“Our research has found they are turning their backs on the concept of generic group living, and ‘slowing down’, and are looking for more bespoke services that help them through their entire life,” she said.
Most don’t know how they will fund their aged care
How this next stage of life would be funded was a worry for respondents.
Only 7% believed the aged care system is adequately funded, with 67% thinking it lacks the necessary financial support.
Interestingly too, most of the respondents didn’t know how to prepare for the transition to old age, 57% admitting they don’t know how much care will cost them.
With the Baby Boomer generation representing 24% of Australia’s population – and the oldest starting to enter aged care for the first time – the research shows it is a conversation that we need to start having with our families and friends.
Planning ahead is key
With the Aged Care Royal Commission likely to recommend that Australians contribute more towards the cost of their care, we should be thinking about how we will pay for aged care services.
And while many of us clearly want to stay at home with help from nurses, this is not always realistic depending on our care needs.
Some older people will need the support of residential care – which is why we should focus on making the experience the best that it can be.
As the Aged Care Royal Commissioner, Lynelle Briggs AO, has said, aged care should be about ensuring a good quality of life for the last 10 to 15 years of life, not just the final few weeks.
After all, we will all be there one day.
