What are the different types of aged care services?

Have you imagined that we live in a world where we are care receivers in the first half of life and care seekers in the second part of life? This life maintains and balances everything in proportion. Do you know any older people finding it difficult to do their everyday tasks? We understand that with growing age, people need help for conducting their day-to-day activities like cleaning, house maintenance, or simply moving around. In this blog, we will discuss the different types of aged care services that can make a senior citizen’s life easy.

Before diving further into this topic, let us first understand what aged care services are and why they are essential for senior citizens.

What are Aged care services?

People may find it challenging to live alone when they grow old. The aged care services provide much-needed support and care to the elderly in their homes or nursing homes. These services include providing help with everyday activities, home modifications, accommodation, health care, and essential equipment like walking frames to the elderly.

The aged care services help older people stay connected to their community and provide necessary care for their social and cultural needs. It also takes care of their health & safety requirements and makes them less dependent on their kids.

These services can be provided in various ways, from full-time individual care to moving them to an aged care home. Let us now talk about the different types of aged care services.

Types of Aged care services?

As people grow older, their quality of life may decline due to a lack of funds or declining physical health. In such situations, the government provides different types of aged care services to improve the quality of older people in the country. These aged care services provide them with much-needed support and care according to their needs.

Here is an aged care service list for all your old age troubles:

• Help at home: As you grow older, getting some help with routine activities can help you feel more independent. Getting aged care services at home differs from person to person. While some people may need help with daily chores like bathing or eating, others may need help with cooking or shopping.
• Moving into an aged care home: The aged care help is for people who cannot live alone and need ongoing help with daily tasks or medical attention. The government funds a range of aged care homes across Australia.
• Short-term or respite care: Short-term care is provided for a set period. One can get short-term care depending on their needs and requirements. The government for a few days or a few months at a time. The Australian government provides subsidies for short-term care services to make them more affordable and convenient for senior citizens.

Homecare Services:

Broadly, home care services are categorized into two types: Entry level support and complex support. These services support an individual for independent living.

For the entry-level services, the government provides a significant chunk of the payment, but a small fee is to be paid by the person availing of these services. These services include:-

• Community and home support
• Good meal services
• Regular health check-ups
• Respite care

Complex support at home: It includes services that assist you in remaining comfortably in your home. These services are entirely government subsidized. These services include:

• Personal care
• Nutritional care
• Mobility and dexterity
• Nursing and allied help
• Therapy sessions
• Assistive technology
• Aids and equipment

Homecare: Let us now talk about these homecare services in detail:

Meals and other food services: 

When caring for the aged, it is essential to ensure a hygienic and nutritional diet. These services offer them four meals daily and carry no upper limit in quantity. The food is prepared as per the diet charts and requirements provided.

Social support services:

These services help you stay connected with your community. In these services, they organize special meetups for aged people to make them more socially active.

Transport Services:

Aged care services also provide transport services for seniors under specific conditions like- Regular health check-ups Community meetups Emergencies.

Personal care services:

They include helping the older people with their personal requirements like reminding them to take regular medications, reporting to their family about their health, keeping track of their physical activity, and many more.

Assistance with care and housing:

It includes helping the aged clean their houses, bringing them groceries, watering their plants, and taking care of their houses.

Home modification services:

It includes modifying their houses according to their convenience, making their houses a comfortable and safe place for them to live in. This also includes building ramps in place of the staircase for wheelchairs, placing handles at regular intervals, providing grills in toilets for ease in sitting, etc.

Home maintenance services:

Maintaining houses is one of the most basic services including in-home care. The help provided is either monetary or physical as per their requirement.

Domestic assistance:

Aged people are provided with domestic help and ongoing support with daily chores. It includes services like cleaning their utensils, washing their clothes, and dusting their houses regularly.

Therapy services:

We all understand that in today’s world, taking care of one’s mental health is just as important as taking care of their physical and emotional needs. Aged homes provide the elderly with regular physical and mental health therapy sessions, helping them with physical ailments and overcoming loneliness or depression if found. It includes providing them with medications and counseling as required.

Nursing care services: 

Special nursing services are provided regularly, which include testing their sugar levels, blood pressure, heart rate, and many more check-ups that certified doctors and nursing staff recommend.

Goods, Equipment, and Assistive Technology (GEAT): 

The GEAT services for the elderly are all about assisting them in accessing the equipment and assistive technology that will enable them to live more independently and stay safe in their homes.

Specialized Support Services: 

This includes the specialized services provided to senior citizens with particular health conditions such as dementia, incontinence, hearing or vision impairment, etc.

Short-term care:

The elderly do not want help and support daily but for a particular period. For times like these, the government offers them short-term care services.

Some of these services include:

Respite Care:

This is a short-term service provided when the caretaker needs a break in the event of a personal or emergency condition.
This generally includes

• A center-based or community-based respite
• Short-term respite is like overnight respite care.

Short-term restorative care:

It includes care that is provided by a team of health professionals. The motive is to reduce any further complications. Some of the short-term restorative care services are:

• Accommodation in residential care
• Aids and equipment care
• Housing care
• Nursing care

After-hospital or Transition care:

This short-term program provides additional support to the elderly during the recovery phase. Some of the after-hospitalization services are:

• Low-intensity therapy
• Physiotherapy
• Regular check-ups
• Personal care.

Aged care homes:

Aged people may find it challenging to live independently Sometimes due to physical conditions or family unavailability. A residential aged care service can be the best option for situations like these. These care homes can give older people the much-needed care and attention needed in the later phases of their lives.  Every person deserves a quality and fulfilling life. Keeping this in mind, the Australian government funds a range of aged care homes across the country. These care homes take care of your physical, social, emotional, and monetary requirements and provide older people with a good quality of life. Each aged care home is different, and one may choose a suitable and convenient care home.

Different types of Australian Age Care Training and Certificate:

The average expectancy of Australians has reached around 82 years. Therefore, aged care services are vital for leading a happy and healthy life in the latter half of life. One has to have a certain level of training, education, and skills to become an aged care professional and provide the best possible care to the elderly. Many such courses are available in the health care sector, which helps you to be a part of this in-demand industry. There are around 21 courses that one can pursue to become an aged care worker in Australia.

Aspiring Aged care workers must mandatorily undergo vocational education and training (VET) qualification, short courses, and traineeships in ageing support/individual support at Tafe NSW OR registered training organizations.

Here are some nationally recognized courses and certifications to become an aged care professional in Australia:

1. Certificate III in individual support (Ageing support): This course provides practical knowledge and first-hand experience in providing primary care to ageing elders.
2. Certificate IV in Aged Care: This course provides support services training to perform specialized tasks and functions in aged care services.
3. Certificate IV in Disability: This qualification trains an individual to get experience and knowledge in caring for aged individuals with disabilities.
4. Certificate IV in Aging support: This course deeps dives into the intricacies of aged care and equips an individual with the expertise to lead a senior care team.
5. Certificate III Health services assistance: This course familiarises an individual with medical terminology, human anatomy, and physiology to specialize an individual in aged care nursing.