For this task, you are a registered nurse working in a community where a high percentage of people over the age of 65 reside.

Task Description: Aged Care Services in Australia

For this task, you are a registered nurse working in a community where a high percentage of people over the age of 65 reside. You have been asked to develop a resource booklet outlining the available services for older people over the age of 65 within your community. In this task, select five services you would include in your booklet and for each one: (the word length below is for your guidance, the rest of word counts are for your introduction and conclusion paragraphs.) In your submission, you are to:

1) Briefly identify and describe five services and explain why they are important (400-500 words)

2) Examine the Rights-based Approach to Service Delivery and justify your choice for one of these services that you have identified. (400-500 words)

3) Evaluate how nurses work within one of these services (you selected) and contribute to an older person quality of life (200-250 words)

Answer

Aged Care Services in Australia

Student’s Name

Course Title

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Date

Aged Care Services in Australia

Services Found In Australia for Older People Over 65 Age And Their Importance

Home and Community Care Programs

            Home and community care program is one of the longest aged care services in Australia. It was established in 1985 and is jointly financed by the state and Commonwealth (Lewin & Vandermeulen, 2013). It is an essential service to those in the old age it because it takes care of the frail older people by providing them with services such as meals on wheels and home help (Muir-Cochrane & Fuller, 2014). The program also focuses on provision of health support using hospital systems. As a result, the existence of home and community care program has helped people in old age both within their residential homes and care homes to attain the best supports, healthcare services and other essential services that have contributed to their wellbeing and increased life expectancy (McIntosh & Phillips, 2021). Mental, psychological and social services offered to the old creates a conducive environment for living a healthy life.

Community Aged Care Packages (CACPs)

            The CACPs is one of the community care programs with significant impact on the lives of old age members of the society. The program offer services and support to the elder at their homes (Harrison & Inacio, 2020). It is fully funded by the Commonwealth and among the services channeled to the old age through this program include financial support and social services, as well as healthcare. Commonwealth sponsor activities such as dementia support, home help, information services and provision of dietary services to the old through this program (Adams & Zannettino, 2014).

Extended Aged Care at Home Program Pilot (EACH)

            The EACH is part of the community care service programs that orients in the provision of home services to the elderly people. The program mainly provide care services to the people who have been assessed and approved for the entry into a high care such as nursing home service level (Dent & Beilby, 2016). It integrates hospital services together with home care services to ensure that the affected population receives the best help in the community. Though it is one of the latest programs, it has impacted on the community by offering services such has addressing acute care and disability services (Rahja & Laver, 2019).

Social Security and Residential Services

            Social security programs are funded by Commonwealth, state/territory, local and non-governmental organizations. They offer pensions such as husband and wife pensions, partner allowance or mature age allowances (Greg, 2021). The financial support extended by social security services help in taking care for the old such as for medication benefits, nutrition and even for leisure services which improve the living standards of the old. Residential services also play a critical role in ensuring that those in old age live in descent housing (Carey, 2021). The program offers aids such as rent assistance, hospital and home and community care services, as well as public housing and residential services which critical for the wellbeing of the people in old age.

Health and Disability Services

            Health and disability services for the old has been provided through hospital systems. The program is funded by Commonwealth, non-governmental entities, local and state/territory (Department of Social Services, 2021). They fund healthcare system that avails medical practitioners and pharmaceutical services to the old. In fact, health and disability services are opined on the creation of the country’s universal health system to all. The old age population have benefited from the program which funds different healthcare services such as access to hearing services and provision of insurance premiums, as well as subsidized medical costs for the older or chronically ill persons (Australian Government, 2021).  

Right-Based Approach to Service Delivery

            Right-based approach is critical in the implementation of human rights norms and principles when developing a healthcare program or service that will promote global health equality (Raveesh & Gowda, 2019). In the case of aged care services in Australia, their establishment had to be anchored on the fundamentals of rights-based approach. In this case, the process of rights-based approach must ensure that human rights are effectively integrated through design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health-related programs. According to the principle of rights-based approach, every healthcare policy must ensure that there is principle of equality and freedom for all populations to receive healthcare services without discrimination (Raveesh & Gowda, 2019). The approach expects the stakeholders especially those implementing the program such as state actors to act with sense of having a responsibility to protect, respect and promote, as well as fulfil human rights. It is argued that when implementing any health-related program, human rights become the fundamental foundation of that health policy and that all stakeholders must make it a norm (Raveesh & Gowda, 2019).

            Rights-based approach is not a new concept in the development and efficient delivery of services. It is a well though model that documents all the necessary ingredients of developing and implementing a program that prioritize human rights (Chung, 2019). The model is based on five key principles: participation, accountability, non-discrimination, legality and empowerment. Under participatory principle, it alluded that everyone is expected to actively participate in decision-making that affect the enjoyment of their human rights. It therefore implies that the general public should be informed and allowed to participate in the development of health programs as they have direct impact on their human rights (Chung, 2019). The principle of accountability also dictates that duty-bearers must be held accountable if they fail fulfil their obligations and that there should be an efficient remedy in case there is breach of human rights. The accountability aspect will therefore ensure that the implementation of any program is done in accordance to the set regulations and is made to meet the set objectives or mission of the program (Singh, 2018). Additionally, there should be no discrimination of any individual based on gender, color or age. Everyone in the society must be empowered and have access to social and healthcare services as this will enable them exercise their rights. Equally, the approaches used in the design, implementation and monitoring of such policies must be in line with legal rights.

            Though there are many services in Australia that met the criteria of rights-based approach, a clear example of those falling under aged services is the home and community care programs. The design, implementation and monitoring of this program met all aspects of the rights-based approach in the sense that it is an inclusive approach that helps most people to access social and healthcare services (Singh, 2018). The program adopted an integrative rights-based approach in which top-down and bottom-up approaches were combined to attain synergy, hence allow people to exercise their human rights fully. The synergy attained through that combination approach ensured that the needs for targeted groups are met such as provision of services at home resident, community residents and within nursing homes (Singh, 2018). The program also ensured that its services covers full range of rights and prioritize human needs such as healthcare services, shelter, nutrition and physical, as well as psychological wellbeing. Precisely, the program only focuses on serving the old and people who qualify and approved for the service such as those who are chronically ill (Carey, 2021). As a result, it does not work to the detriment of any section of the population in any part of Australia.

Evaluate How Nurses Work With Home and Community Care Programs

The geriatric nurses working at home and community care programs are trained professionals with high level of education and ability to understand and treat the most complex physical and mental health needs of older people.  Geriatric nurses are in charge of the homecare and community healthcare services where they engage the old people in diagnosis, therapy and treatment of their ailment (Stoop & De Bruin, 2019). Throughout their profession, these nurses exclusively engage in traditional nursing duties that majorly involve the understanding of the adult’s special needs.

The nurses’ operations within their home care services or community healthcare services is completely different from those of conventional nurses. They are expected to be patient, tolerant and accommodative (Stoop & De Bruin, 2019). In fact, the characteristics of the community care nurses include the ability listen extremely carefully and also balance their needs and that of patients. For instance, one of their critical function is the assessment of the patient’s mental status and cognitive skills. The assessment of mental status or psychological stability is critical because older people are prone to mental issues such as dementia among other psychological issues which affect their wellbeing (Flaherty & Bartels, 2019).

Geriatric nurses plays a critical role in the success of home and community care programs. They are committed to understand patient’s acute and chronic health issues, as well as develop treatment mechanisms necessary to improve their health condition (Flaherty & Bartels, 2019). These nurses routinely discuss and develop strategies to address daily health concerns facing older people within their community healthcare setups. They are keen in understanding and diagnosis issues such as falls, changing sleep patterns and incontinence issues. After diagnosis and understanding such old age challenges, the nurses usually take part in the execution of medications and develop post medication recovery plans which involves educating patients about personal safety and disease prevention strategies (Flaherty & Bartels, 2019). Therefore, the nurses work is about developing patience, showing respect to patients, practice active listening and building rapport with patients as a way of attaining rights-based approach.

References

Adams, V. M., & Zannettino, L. (2014). Financial abuse of older people by a family member: a difficult terrain for service providers in Australia. Journal of elder abuse & neglect, 26(3), 270-290.

Australian Government. (2021, 9 7). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; Aged care. Retrieved from aihw.gov.au: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/aged-care

Carey, D. (2021, 9 7). Coping with Population Ageing In Australia Economics Department Working Papers No. 217. Retrieved from oecd.org: https://www.oecd.org/tax/public-finance/1879131.pdf

Chung, Y. H. (2019). Facilitating learning of a right-based approach for community practice in higher education.

Dent, E. H., & Beilby, J. (2016). Frailty and health service use in rural South Australia. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics, 62, 53-58.

Department of Social Services. (2021, 9 7). Mental Health. Programs & Services. Retrieved from dss.gov.au: https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/mental-health/programs-services

Flaherty, E., & Bartels, S. J. (2019). Addressing the community‐based geriatric healthcare workforce shortage by leveraging the potential of interprofessional teams. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 67(S2), S400-S408.

Greg, M. (2021, 9 7). The ‘Boomer Bulge’: Ageing Policies for the 21st Century. Retrieved from aph.gov.au: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp9899/99rp04

Harrison, S. L., & Inacio, M. C. (2020). Trends in prevalence of dementia for people accessing aged care services in Australia. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 75(2), 318-325.

Lewin, G. D., & Vandermeulen, S. (2013). A randomised controlled trial of the Home Independence Program, an Australian restorative home‐care programme for older adults. Health & Social Care in the Community, 21(1), 69-78.

McIntosh, G., & Phillips, J. (2021, 9 7). Caring for the Elderly’ – An Overview of Aged Care Support and Services in Australia. Retrieved from aph.gov.au: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/archive/agedcare

Muir-Cochrane, E. O., & Fuller, J. (2014). Service provision for older people with mental health problems in a rural area of Australia. Aging & mental health, 18(6), 759-766.

Rahja, M., & Laver, K. (2019). What does the Australian public know about occupational therapy for older people? A population survey. Australian occupational therapy journal, 66(4), 511-518.

Raveesh, B. N., & Gowda, M. (2019). How right is right-based mental health law? Indian journal of psychiatry, 61(Suppl 4), S640.

Singh, C. (2018). Right to Public Service Delivery in India. New Governance Paradigm.

Stoop, A. L., & De Bruin, S. R. (2019). Comprehensive geriatric assessments in integrated care programs for older people living at home: A scoping review. Health & social care in the community, 27(5), e549-e566.

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