The last edition of FRIDAY followed the DCM Group’s successful LEADERS SUMMIT, attended by a record 579 people from the seniors living and aged care sector across the country.
We wanted to call out one that we feel every Village Professional should find the time to watch, a presentation by Cam Ansell.
About 11 years ago Cam Ansell jumped ship from advisory group Grant Thornton to establish his own advisory group, Ansell Strategic. Today he is at the forefront of the reshaping of retirement living and aged care, thanks to his in-demand mergers and acquisition business.
At the LEADERS SUMMIT in Sydney last week, he made the prediction that 11 years from now, there will be two hundred thousand residents enjoying ‘independent living’. This compares with today where 200,000 retirement village residents and 100,000 land lease residents live in affordable villages. The number will drop by 33%.
The video below explains what makes up this prediction for independent living, and talks to a significant rise in community based home care. A topic we have been exploring through our recent Home Care in Retirement Living Masterclasses.
Over the past two weeks, the DCM Institute hosted a Masterclass on Home Care in Retirement Living.
The webinar featured home care experts, Kylie Johnson from Living Choice, and Beverly Smith from myHomecare. The feedback from attendees was that the conversations had couldn’t have been more-timely, and when you look at the numbers it’s easy to see why.
According to PWC’s Retirement Living Census, the average age of residents within our villages is 81. We talk and write regularly around Dementia, with three out of every 10 Australians over the age of 80 living with a diagnosis. Research suggests there are many more undiagnosed.
Across the country we have Aged Care operators commending their facilities are full – and no more are being built.
The Home Care Packages Data Report (November 2023) suggests that as of 30 September 2023, there had been a 13% increase in people who had access to a Home Care Package (HCP) over the 12-month period. What’s more, there are an additional 31,500 waiting without
The numbers paint a picture that Village Managers are dealing with every day. Home Care is now part of our value proposition. The conversation on DCM Institute’s webinar came down to the types of models that are currently in the market, and what Managers can be doing to help residents remain independent and well in the safety of their retirement village home.
Equipping Village Managers with Essential Tools
“It’s about giving Village Managers that toolkit,” remarked Kylie, emphasising the importance of arming Managers with the necessary resources to support residents in their home care journey.
Kylie spoke about partnering with service providers in your local area health network to ensure Managers are having informed conversations with residents. This will then allow Village Managers to guide residents and their families effectively, promoting safety and independence as they age.
Establishing Strategic Partnerships
Beverly drew on her extensive experience with myHomecare, and previously Australian Unity where she was the Executive General Manager of their Retirement Living portfolio.
“Integrated models or long-term partnerships with home care providers are crucial,” she noted. These partnerships can be established at a local village level, or at a corporate level for larger operators. Regardless of the approach, Beverly advocated that a strategic partnership for those who do not provide home care as a service will ensure consistent and reliable support for residents and enhance the overall value proposition of the village community.
Leveraging My Aged Care as a Gateway
“My Aged Care is the National gateway into the Aged Care system,” highlighted Kylie.
By registering and exploring available resources on the platform, residents and Village Managers can gain valuable insights and access tailored support options.
Addressing Challenges in Accessing Timely Care
Acknowledging the challenges faced by residents in accessing timely care, Kylie highlighted lengthy wait times for assessments and approval of home care packages. It was noted that wait times can be up to 9 months for those with a Level 3 HCP.
Village Managers can play a proactive role, Kylie encouraged, through collaborating with family members, carers, discharge planners and case managers to expedite assessments, especially for high-priority cases.
Empowering Residents with Accurate Information
Beverly emphasised the importance of educating residents about their care options.
“Individualised advice is crucial,” she advised. By providing accurate information, Village Managers empower residents to make informed decisions about their care without unnecessary hesitation.
File Notes
The most challenging issue faced by Village Managers is when a resident’s health is deteriorating, and this is not being recognised or supported by family or loved ones. It was recommended by both Kylie and Beverly that Village Managers should take the time to keep quality ‘file notes’ – a simple record of what has been observed over a period of time.
Be Pro-active, collaborative and well informed.
The main take away from the webinar was the need for Village Professionals to be proactive in taking the time to understand the different care models, how to navigate systems like My Aged Care, and fostering partnerships with home care providers.
There are 23 recommendations but the ones must pertinent to the retirement living sector are:
Recommendation 1: Underpin the Support at Home Program with inclusion and exclusion principles and clearly defined service lists.
Recommendation 3: It is appropriate older people make a fair co-contribution to the cost of their aged care based on their means.
Recommendation 7: Establish a fee-for-service model for Support at Home that ensures participants only pay a co-contribution for services received.
Recommendation 8: Introduce Support at Home participant co-contributions that vary based on the type of service accessed.
“The Taskforce notes the Support at Home Program needs much clearer specifications than current programs about what it will and will not fund. The lack of clarity and consistency in inclusions and exclusions in current home care programs has led to confusion between providers and participants. This affects participants’ ability to make informed choices about their care, diminishes value for money in the programs, and could also mean that funds are not used according to the policy intent of home care,” it reads.
In a nutshell, it wants to make the consumer pay for non-care components such as gardening, washing the dishes, and general cleaning.
This is positive news for the sector. The Retirement Living Council (RLC) has released a new document titled “Shared Care”, the brainchild of Ryman Healthcare Australia CEO Cam Holland (pictured), which proposes part of a resident’s Home Care Package funding can be shared with the rest of the village to create efficiencies. An example would be part of the funds would contribute to a nurse on-site which would benefit the whole village as well as a care package recipient.
Cam has long advocated for the ability to increase contributions from residents to lessen the burden on the taxpayer.
While direct aged care services should always be publicly funded, the accommodation and daily service costs aged care residents currently contribute to on top of that [in the form of refundable accommodation deposits and daily accommodation payments and basic daily fees] need to be deregulated.”
“Consumers, especially cashed-up Baby Boomers who are entering aged care in their droves, want the kind of accommodation and services they’ve enjoyed their entire lives, aged care operators want to provide these, but aren’t allowed to under the current model.
“Through a co-contribution model, government funding would cover care costs, while residents with the means to would contribute towards accommodation and daily hotel services that suit their individual tastes and requirements. Appropriate safety nets for those without means are already part of the current legislative environment and should be protected and strengthened.”
The RLC has just released a 48 page policy argument for the government and the Federal Department of Health and Aged Care to recognise that retirement villages already provide home support and that a small number of policy changes to the Community and Home support funding programs can save the Government $100 million a year.
The concept of Shared Care is to take a small portion of a large number of village residents’ Community and Home support packages and apply those funds to the full village, which would deliver economies of scale and investments in wellness supports for all residents.
An example would be instead of say 10 residents each utilising their individual home support packages to be individually taken to the shops to buy their groceries, part of those funds would be used to fund a village bus trip where one bus and one driver takes 10 people to the shops.
Another example would be for the collective funds to pay for a village nurse, who would not only look after people on Government-funded Packages but also the other village residents and with the better health support, more likely arrest their pending acuity.
The report also points out that village operators already deliver many of the common services under a Community or Home Support Package, such as home modifications, transport to medical and recreational events, meals and meal preparation, assistive technology and domestic assistance.
Under a master Home Care Package, why can’t the village expand the delivery of the services and be compensated? The result would be cheaper than a resident receiving the services from an outside home care provider.
There is a long way to go before Shared Care may be fully embraced by Government, but elements could be announced as early as the May Federal Budget.
The major achievement is that the Department, therefore the Government, is recognising the role and the opportunity of retirement villages deliver in the care journey.
The RLC is recommending a trial or pilot. The hope is that can commence soon so that when the new Support at Home program commences in July 2025, there is a platform to expand on.
The sector has moved a long way in the last year or two. And this is needed, because as we reported last Thursday in The SOURCE, in the nine months to September 2023 just 520 new aged care places were added in Australia compared to the Government’s estimate of 8,800 required every year.
Retirement village ‘beds’, with professional support, can go a long way to fill this gap with the benefit of Shared Care.
Participants in DCM Institute’s Professional Development Program have access to an exclusive webinar ‘Home Care in Retirement Living,” later this month.
The purpose of this webinar is to look at the different ways in which Home Care works in a retirement village setting. We have invited two subject matter experts to provide guidance on the options available to them, and to explore the models that are currently out there across the country.
We’re thrilled to announce the team at Critical Success Solutions as a member of our Village Management Professional Development program.
Building strong, long-term industry partnerships with like-minded, passionate and experienced professionals within the retirement living sector is a priority for the DCMI team.
Critical Success Solutions bring a wealth of knowledge in the areas such as;
Residential Aged Care
Home Care
Commonwealth Home Support programs
Disability / NDIS
Retirement Living
Education Services
We look forward to working with Critical Success Solutions to provide helpful, hands-on advice and knowledge with our participants.
