Your Aged Care Compass

A downsizing specialist helps people to declutter their homes. For a variety of reasons, people may need some guidance.

Emotional attachment to items and family dynamics can cause resistance when it comes to downsizing. Knowing when to start this conversation and how to proceed in an orderly sequence will make this process less stressful.

Professional downsizers often have a great network of local contacts who can support the downsizing process.

 In this episode:

• How to start a conversation about downsizing
• How to start the process
• Overcoming hesitation and negative emotions
• Professional organiser vs downsizing specialist
• Time taken to complete the downsize
• How to sequence the process
• What items are currently selling well
• Strategies for managing family heirlooms
• Working with different family dynamics
• Where and how to donate unwanted items

Resources Mentioned

• Buy the Decluttering Directory
• Let's Talk Consultation

Connect with Melissa Freasier:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Website

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

A granny flat arrangement is a lifechanging and lifelong commitment. Consider the implications of undertaking such an arrangement.

Understand how the arrangement works and what you need to think about before entering into such an agreement. There are legal and financial implications for such an agreement.

Getting sound legal and financial advice before entering into this agreement will ensure all parties, particularly the older person, are protected.

 In this episode:

• What is a granny flat arrangement?
• Who can enter a granny flat arrangement?
• How does it work?
• Setting up the arrangement
• Estate planning implications
• Financial implications
• Legal implications
• Ending a granny flat agreement

Resources mentioned

• Let's Talk Consultation

Connect with Nick Donnelly

LinkedIn

Website

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

There are a couple of main options for the management of your home care package funding. These are self-managed or fully managed. There is also a hybrid which is a supported self-managed option.

We talk about the different management models and the pros and cons for each. Think about what to consider before you sign up with a provider based on how you’d like your package to be managed.

Regardless of which option you choose, you must always sign up with a provider.

 In this episode: 

• Can I self-manage my home care package?
• Considerations for self-management
• Do I have to sign up with a provider?
• The differences between self-managed and fully managed options
• The fees that providers charge
• Why self-management can be difficult for some people
• What our families and clients have experienced with different management options.

Resources Mentioned 

• Which Home Care Package Model is Right For Me? | SeeMeACN
• Home Care Package costs and fees | My Aged Care
• Let's Talk Consultation

Related Episodes 

• Episode 7: Home Care Packages
• Episode 10: Dementia and cognition supplement

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

People are eligible for the dementia and cognition supplement if they are receiving a home care package and they demonstrate eligibility via one of the Department of Health and Aged Care’s prescribed screening tools.

We discuss how much the supplement is worth and who can do the screening. We explain the different screening tools and when each would be used. Learn who to approach to organize the screening and why people sometimes find getting this process completed difficult.

 In this episode: 

• What is the dementia and cognition supplement?
• Who is eligible?
• Does the older person need a diagnosis of dementia?
• Who can screen for eligibility?
• The prescribed screening tools and when to use them
• The process after someone has been screened
• What happens if the person gets a higher level home care package or changes providers?
• People’s experiences in attempting to get the screening completed

Resources Mentioned 

• What is the dementia and cognition supplement? | SeeMeACN
• Dementia and cognition supplement for home care | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
• Let's Talk Consultation

Related Episodes 

Episode 7: Home Care Packages

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

Having a home care package allows the older person to get services and support to keep them well and independent at home for as long as possible. These services and support can be so much more than “care”.

Enlisting a team of clinicians who can help improve the older person’s strength, mobility and overall health can allow them to regain some independence. This also contributes to a person’s ability to continue to live at home.

 In this episode: 

• Care and support for activities of daily living
• Use your home care package funding to remain well and independent at home
• Reablement is an option that can run alongside care
• Hospital admissions and deconditioning
• Discussion about how we’ve used this approach with our mum

Resources Mentioned 

• Guiding you through My Aged Care | SeeMeACN
• Let's Talk Consultation

Related Episodes 

• Episode 4: How do I get help at home?
• Episode 5: A discussion with a former ACAT assessor
• Episode 7: Home Care Packages
• Episode 8: How to prepare for an assessment

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

Before having an assessment for in-home aged care services, take the time to reflect on the amount of support you or an older loved one needs on a daily or weekly basis. Any support, formal or informal, paid or free, is important to note.

Preparation is key to getting the level of support you or an older loved one needs. Having a list of all the support the older person gets gives a very complete picture of their situation.

Understand who the assessment teams are and what support programs each assessment team can approve for.

In this episode:

• Does My Aged Care Assess?
• What are the assessment teams looking for?
• Who are the assessment teams?
• What are the different programs of support?
• How do you prepare for an assessment?
• Can others offer input during the assessment?

Resources Mentioned

• Access Australian aged care information and services | My Aged Care
• Assessment for Aged Care - Services Australia
• Let's Talk Consultation

Related Episodes

• Episode 3: Have I been assessed by My Aged Care? 
• Episode 4: How do I get help at home?
• Episode 5: Discussion with a former ACAT assessor

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

There are four levels of funding for home care packages. The packages are used to help keep older people well and able at home for as long as possible. We discuss what the packages are worth, how the funding is allocated and the different package management options available.

We chat about what the funding can be used for and the importance of a comprehensive care plan to validate package expenditure.

We discuss communication with your home care provider and changing providers if you are not happy with your service provision.

In this episode:

• How to be approved for a home care package?
• What is a home care package worth?
• How the funding is allocated
• High priority for urgent needs
• Fully managed vs self-managed service provision
• The care plan and why it’s so important
• What information is used to develop a care plan
• Care plan reviews and support plan reviews
• Valid care expenses – inclusions and exclusions
• The value of clinical input (registered nurses and other allied health providers)
• Changing providers

Resources Mentioned

• About the Home Care Packages Program | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
• Home Care Packages Program Inclusions and Exclusions – FAQs for Providers – version 1 | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
• Blog | SeeMeACN
• Access Australian aged care information and services | My Aged Care
• Let's Talk Consultation

Related Episodes 

• Episode 4: How do I get help at home?
• Episode 5: Discussion with a former ACAT assessor

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

If an older person has lost some function or independence after a hospital admission, they may be approved for the Transition Care Program (TCP). This is a program of up to 12 weeks of clinician-led support to help the older person regain their strength and wellbeing and safely transition back to living at home.

TCP is approved while the older person is still in hospital, not after they have been discharged. TCP can be delivered in a number of settings, with the aim that it is completed in the older person’s own home. 

Michelle discusses who approves for TCP and how the process works. Then she gives a real scenario, our dad’s use of TCP when he was twice discharged from hospital after having two of his four strokes. 

 In this episode: 

• What is TCP?
• Who is eligible for TCP (and who isn’t)?
• Who can make a referral for TCP?
• Where TCP can be delivered
• How long the program runs for
• Clinical and non-clinical support under TCP
• Pausing or continuing other in-home support services
• Getting approved for TCP takes time
•   

Resources Mentioned 

• Transition Care Programme | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
• Let's Talk Consultation

Related Episodes 

• Episode 4: How do I get help at home?

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

When an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) assessor does an assessment of the older person, they look at the person holistically. They want to understand what services and support could help that person to continue to live in their own home.

We discuss what the assessor is looking for, why they ask certain questions and why they may look around the older person’s home as part of the assessment.

Janine gives us some great insight into the information that an ACAT assessor gathers and how this information is collected. This enables the ACAT to approve for the appropriate level of care for the older person.

 In this episode: 

• What is an ACAT assessor?
• What programs do ACATs approve for?
• What information ACATs are looking for
• Why certain questions are asked
• Looking at the person’s surroundings as well as talking to them
• Situations that indicate urgent help might be needed
• Information from the ACAT assessment
• Things to consider before you have an assessment

Resources Mentioned 

• My Book | SeeMeACN
• What Is An ACAT (Aged Care) Assessment? | SeeMeACN
• Access Australian aged care information and services | My Aged Care
• Let's Talk Consultation

Related Episodes 

• Episode 3: Have I been assessed by My Aged Care?
• Episode 4: How do I get help at home?

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

More about Janine:

Janine discovered her love for community nursing in the metropolitan Sydney area of Canterbury in Sydney. Developing her skills Janine commenced in the role of Aged Care Assessor in an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT). She has worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, Psychogeriatric Aged Care Nurse and Team Leader in ACAT and Rehabilitation teams in metropolitan Sydney including Auburn and Kogarah, and interstate teams in Canberra and Queensland. It is within these teams Janine discovered she had found her passion, helping older people to remain living at home, whilst assisting them to maintain as much choice and independence as possible.

Following a move to the ACT in 2006, and after a period of working within the ACAT team, Janine was a Clinical Nurse Consultant for the Department of Veteran Affairs, providing consultation to other nursing services regarding the nursing care of veterans and DVA entitled persons who were over 65 and considered to have high level, complex needs.

In 2016 Janine was the Subject Matter Expert, national assessor and content creator for the My Aged Care national assessment workforce training. 

Following another move in 2019 to the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland, (which Janine feels will definitely be her last) Janine was providing aged care assessment as an ANACC (Australian National Aged Care Classification) Assessor. This assessment was introduced to improve the funding for people living in residential care.

Janine thoroughly enjoys her role with Coral and Michelle at See Me Aged Care Navigators. She is able to use all of her experience and skills to empower and assist others to understand and negotiate the national aged care system.

There are aged care programs that support older people to live in their own homes for as long as possible. We discuss eligibility for in-home programs and the information that you need to convey when you contact My Aged Care.

We talk about what happens when you contact My Aged Care, providing consent, and becoming a regular representative.

Learn about the assessment teams and the programs that the different teams approve for. We discuss entry level programs and what’s available for people with higher needs.

 In this episode: 

• My Aged Care is the gateway, the starting point
• My Aged Care screens people
• Screening versus assessment
• Eligibility criteria
• Misinformation about eligibility
• Be prepared before you contact My Aged Care
• Carer stress/crisis
• What to do when you call My Aged Care
• Representatives and consent
• Assessment teams and support programs
• Referral codes and getting services and support
• Home care packages
• Approval versus assignment
• Coral’s top tips

Resources Mentioned 

• Blog | SeeMeACN
• Access Australian aged care information and services | My Aged Care
• Let's Talk Consultation

Related Episodes 

Episode 3: Have I been assessed by My Aged Care?

Connect with Coral Wilkinson: 

• Instagram 
• LinkedIn 

Follow See Me Aged Care Navigators:

• See Me ACN website
• Facebook
• Instagram

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast: 

Do you support an older loved one at home and you're ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is for you.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is the client care manager for our business. 

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. When we eventually needed extra support, we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well. We knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

Your Aged Care Compass podcast brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home. 

We'll help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system and bring you topics related to ageing as well. Legal, financial, health, forward planning and more.

 Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones. 

Like what you hear? Please leave us a rating and review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.