How Does An Accreditation Programme In Residential Aged Care Inform The Way Residents Manage Their Healthcare And Lifestyle?

Introduction to Aged Care in Australia

Health care is considered as an important element and pillar of the well-being of humans worldwide. We all need good health and care to be able to conduct our day to day activities. It forms an important part of every person’s basic needs. According to Maslow hierarchy of needs, health care forms part of the base of the pyramid after the physiological needs which come first. The Australian health care sector consists of several industry segments aimed at achieving and meeting the needs of all citizens in terms of proper care and welfare. Aged care is one of the segments of the industry that has helped improve care delivery in the country. Aged care in Australia refers to the delivery of care services to the elderly who are considered a special part of the population with special needs. As stated by Sugimoto 2018, it encompasses the old part of the population by providing special services and intense care as they form a vulnerable group within any given society.

The government offers subsidies to help minimize the cost of aged care services, however there is the user pays system in aged care whereby the elderly pay to acquire a given service that they can afford. As stated by Wilson 2016, the introduction of user pays system for the elderly has proven to be quite advantageous as the subject gets to receive proper and intense care as they pay for it. In this system, for someone to receive a service they have to pay a specified amount in order for it to be delivered in a manner which they prefer. The main activities of the aged care segment is ensuring the welfare of the elderly in the country and to offer assisted care delivery to cater for their special needs. According to Hugo 2016, the aged require a different and special manner of healthcare as compared to the rest of the population as the immunity system tends to decrease with old age. The energy levels in old age likewise tend to reduce as compared to the young population. They therefore require more attention hence the introduction of aged care.

Aged care as an industry segment in health care today allows maximum utilization of health resources available for the care of the elderly. It provides channels through which the elderly get to access health care whenever they need to (Nagata 2016). The user pays model in aged care is an upcoming trend within this industry that allows the elderly to acquire care that they can afford. This has offered competition to the public care whereby patients are catered for mainly via government subsidies. The increase in the number of private hospitals has thereby offered competition to public hospitals as even some of the elderly prefer to receive care from private care givers as opposed to the public avenues as long as they can afford the services. As echoed by Hume 2015, aged care is growing and becoming an entity on its own in health care sector. Several hospitals are being formed day by day to cater for the needs of the elderly alone as much as there are pediatric hospitals in the world today. Statistics have shown decreased death rates with improved care delivery for the elderly. The expected life duration (expectancy) has also increased tremendously over the past decade. This could be attributed partly by increased aged care.

User Pays System in Aged Care

There are many factors influencing aged care as a whole that affect operations within the health care sector. These include physical, environmental and social factors. For example, affordability and accessibility of health care may vary among individuals. The user pays model of aged care requires paying to obtain a particular care. In any given society, not everyone is capable of affording the care services given by the health provider (Hewitt et al 2018). This therefore favors some and leaves others within the population. According to statistics, an average person with more than 65 years of age is supported by at least four to five persons of the working class. This has enabled the user pays system to be in use as even though the elderly might have retired from their jobs, they often have support from the working population to pay for certain services. The availability of medical covers and insurances issued to cater for retirement have helped the aged access medical care in their old age as they do not have to pay for the services.

Availability and accessibility of health care are also crucial players affecting aged care. The presence of enough facilities and equipment to cater for the old determines their treatment and care. The Australian government has played an important role in ensuring enough financing of public hospitals to purchase equipment and provide facilities such as nursing homes that cater for the elderly in their old age. The services should also be accessible at any given time to enhance quick recovery and care. As stated by Parfitt 2017, this is affected by a couple of factors including the distance from the residential areas and availability of fast transport systems. The presence of good roads and transport systems within the country have enabled easy care for the elderly as they can easily access the services once and whenever they need them. In the user pays system for example, the elderly might opt for the services to be brought to them in their residential areas by the care giver as they pay for such services. According to Wong 2015, the presence of nursing homes also has contributed to better care for the elderly as they are well monitored and obtain proper nutritional services at these places. Care is delivered to them whenever in need hence they do not need to worry on how to seek for a certain medical attention. Proper accessibility to health care has helped significantly reduced mortality rate in the elderly. Since the elderly are prone and vulnerable to contracting some old age related long term diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, arthritis and cardiac related conditions, proper accessibility enhances the management of such since the service provider is always near.

Accessibility and Affordability of Healthcare

Proper aged care in any given institution aims at ensuring the elderly are well catered for as well as impacting knowledge on how to improve their health. Health education therefore is an important aspect of aged care. According to Brownie 2013, this encompasses educating the elderly on how to prevent acquiring unnecessary infections by observing proper hygiene as well as checking on their diet. Proper and healthy nutrition therefore forms a crucial element in the well-being of the elderly since it prevents them from diet related diseases such as goiter and renal failure. A number of social and environmental factors also come into play whenever aged care is involved. The elderly require emotional support from families and friends in case of any ill condition (Greenfield 2016). The care provider should also develop a good rapport with the elderly patients to support their recovery. The presence of other elderly people in retirement homes and facilities for the old creates a conducive environment for interaction and social well-being of the elderly. The environment in which the elderly receive care is of importance in their care. The elderly for example require home modifications and equipment that aid in their locomotion and well-being without strain. The absence of these equipment may expose the elderly to unnecessary accidents and conditions.

Health resources are allocated depending on necessity. Since the elderly form an important part of the society a good number of resources including finances are allocated by the government to cater for their needs. The user pays model of aged care assumes that the elderly or their families are capable of affording certain services (Rayner 2017). This has helped ration the scarce and limited health resources within the country as the user obtains only the services that they pay for. As any other industry, scarcity and opportunity cost come into play. Some countries for example introduce this system to conserve limited resources since the elderly form a dependent part of the population since majority are not working and hence cannot make a big difference in the country’s economic growth.

The desire for the elderly to remain in their home with old age in Australia has led to increased aged care provision in the community settings. The services are mainly provided by private entities in the industry whereby the elderly hire private personnel and care providers to take care of them in their homes. The government also plays an important role in regulating health care and ensuring these services are provided in accordance to the law. It also ensures aged care facilities are made available to residential areas to cater for all including those who cannot afford hiring private personnel (Ravenswood 2015). In accordance to the laid out laws of the land, the care providers have a task and responsibility placed on them to ensure that the facilities of the elderly are well maintained and to provide funds for upgrade and availability of equipment with the aid of government subsidies and resident charges.

Social and Environmental Factors Affecting Aged Care

There are several ethical issues surrounding aged care provision. The Australian government has put into place several laws that regulate care provision among the elderly. For example, a good physician-patient relationship should be achieved to enhance easier and proper care delivery. As illustrated by Hogden 2018, the care giver ought to convey information well and in a manner that the receiver understands. The Hippocratic Oath in the medical profession provides a constitution of rules and pledges by the medical body fraternity which aim at ensuring care is provided with dignity and the utmost respect to those receiving it. All practitioners thereby ought to observe the set of oaths therein in order to maintain good conduct required by every profession. The care giver should not be biased in care giving. He/she ought to deliver care without consideration of gender, race, background or any other differences. Equality should therefore be observed to all citizens. Negligence forms another fraction of ethical issues that ought to be addressed. As echoed by Hardman 2015, the care giver has a responsibility of availing care at any given time without negligence. For example aged care given in nursing homes should encompass everyone. It is wrong for the health care giver to pay more attention to a certain number of individuals neglecting others who have the right to receive the same care.

The Belmont report was established to preserve health and to fight against unethical practices when conducting human research. In the report, it was stated that all people should be respected. This involves seeking consent and ensuring confidentiality is observed. Ensuring the well-being of a patient or participant was also a crucial principle. This revolves around making sure that only the advantages of a research are achieved in the subject and avoiding errors or any harm that would fall in place. A care giver should therefore act in the good of the care receiver (CK Tan 2015). The care giver should also give care without any intentions of making profit rather with the aim of aiding the one receiving it feel better.

Conclusion

In conclusion, aged care has become an important entity in health care provision that needs as much attention and monitoring as any other segment within the health sector. The model of user pays for the aged in the country is proving to be useful and the key focus is maximizing on the resource allocation and better provision of services. The government is also embracing aged care provision by provision of subsidies and insurance covers for the elderly in an aim to achieving universal health care. The elderly are of great significance in the society and therefore it is the primary duty of everyone in ensuring their welfare and care.

Health Education for the Elderly

References

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