Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the waiting time to get a new or upgraded home care package from the Government was beyond 18 months in most parts of Australia. In fact, last year 16,000 people died before they got their support package.
Looking forward, with all Governments carrying hundreds of millions of dollars in debt when they had little to none up to now, the likelihood is that home care funding will be even harder to win.
Where will that leave you?
Already retirement village operators are reporting increased interest from people who are thinking about the support that they may need in the future.
The attractions include the fact that you need less ‘home support’ because village homes are designed to support us as we age – so there are no stairs, no ramps are required, showers have grab rails and gardens are ‘safe’ to move around in freely.
Villages also have village managers to check in on you that you are alright. They are there for your journey, like family.
Villages are also set up to help you with shopping, doctors’ visits and supplies from the chemist when you can’t drive. It’s these little things that become big things later and that government home care would help you with.
The point is: we all need to be planning ahead, not waiting for the event that turns into a crisis, where we lose control of how we live – like waiting years for the Government’s home care.
Discussion1 Comment
“Villages also have village managers to check in on you that you are alright. They are there for your journey, like family.” That is a generalisation whose factual basis needs to be clarified.
Some individual managers may act in a caring capacity, some may be “like family”. Others will be like old-style bosses or acting out a services background.
What matters is in the contract. I wonder how many contracts specify about checking all right and like family? The contract known to me from a prestige-heavy operator contains more than 80 must-nots, right down to picking flowers. But as an obligation by the management it merely says that there is lifetime tenure. Not even that regular maintenance or capital items renewal will be done. Several of the life-style services “mentioned” at the sales point, but not specified in the contract, are no longer there.
So, as always, read your contract and ask a lawyer, what is the under side there for me? Write down for the salesperson to initial what is said to you about caring and family.