The big story this week was the release of the Aged Care Royal Commission’s Final Report.
It’s a mammoth document at five volumes and over 2,800 pages.
But one with plenty of nuggets – if you have time to dig into the detail.
Excitingly, many of the key measures outlined by the Commissioners seem to support retirement villages as a form of age-appropriate housing that offers social inclusion and importantly, the capacity for support staff.
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples.
Recommendation 1: A new Act (1 July 2023)
The new Act should define aged care as: a. support and care for people to maintain their independence as they age, including support and care to ameliorate age-related deterioration in their social, mental and physical capacities to function independently b. supports, including respite for informal carers of people receiving aged care.
The objects of the new Act should be to: a. provide a system of aged care based on a universal right to high quality, safe and timely support and care to: i. assist older people to live an active, self-determined and meaningful life, and ii. ensure older people receive high quality care in a safe and caring environment for dignified living in old age.
The big thing here is assisting older Australians to live active, self-determined and meaningful lives – ensuring they receive high quality care in a safe and caring environment.
These are all words you’d use to describe retirement villages.
Delve a little deeper and the theme continues to develop.
Recommendation 3: Key principles
vii. to the fullest extent possible, older people should receive support and care in the location they choose or, where that is not possible, in the setting most appropriate to their circumstances and preferences
viii. older people are entitled to receive support and care that acknowledges the aged care setting is their home and enables them to live in security, safety and comfort with their privacy respected.
The setting most appropriate to their circumstances and preferences is a particularly juicy nugget and you can expect to see village operators evolve their services to suit.
Villages as the solution that already exists
We counted 38 recommendations in total that supported retirement villages as a housing resource that could (and should) be engaged by Government.
And the best part is retirement villages are already built and ready to go.
The quality of the aged care setting is going to be a huge focus in the implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission Report.
In retirement villages, it seems that the solution is already there.
