In this episode of Medicubes, hosts Riwka, Kim, and Chris are joined by Jo Winwood, Associate Director of Healthy Living and Ageing at Healthy North Coast. Discussing aged care in Australia, recent reforms driven by the Royal Commission, and the practical implications for general practice teams and their elderly patients.

Key Points:

• Jo’s Background: Jo’s transition from the corporate sector into aged care and her belief in the importance of dignity, visibility, and purpose for older Australians.
• Gaps in Aged Care: The traditional approach often left older people feeling like passive recipients of care, rather than active participants. Jo highlights the need for meaningful social connection to reduce feelings of invisibility and loneliness.
• Role of Primary Care: Emphasis for GPs, nurses, and practice managers to initiate aged care discussions earlier, integrate aged care pathways into care planning, and use regular assessments as opportunities to identify and support older patients at risk.
• Aged Care Changes: Outlining how the Royal Commission (started in 2018) led to 148 recommendations focused on consumer visibility, choice, and control and moving away from a provider-centric model to a rights-based system that emphasises dignity and independence.

Major System Changes:

• Access: Improved access points, and new referral pathways for primary care providers.
• Assessment: Shift to a single, unified assessment system for all consumers.
• Support at Home: Replacement of four-tiered home care packages with an eight-level Support at Home program, allowing greater flexibility and more rapid escalation of support as needs change.
• Special Pathways: Introduction of additional short-term support and end-of-life care packages, with roles for GPs and nurse practitioners in assessing and referring patients.

Links & Resources:

• My Aged Care: https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/
• New Aged Care Act: https://www.agedcarequality.gov.au/about-us/legislation-and-policies/new-aged-care-act

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