The Short-Term Restorative Care Program is being replaced by a new restorative care pathway under Support at Home, Australia’s Chief Allied Health Officer Anita Hobson-Powell reminded the Positive Ageing Summit day 1 audience.
“This restorative care pathway will provide 16 weeks of intensive allied health services through an integrated, coordinated, goal-focused, multidisciplinary program to improve functional and health independence through education and clinical intervention,” said Ms Hobson-Powell, whose role sits within the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Allied health access is a key element of the new Support at Home program and is captured in the new program service list, but a participant with chronic disease management plans through the Medicare Benefits Schedule must use this first to access their allied health services, she explained.
However, when all their access to allied health has been exhausted under this plan, further support can be accessed to address functional decline, she added, as participants will be able to use their budget to access allied health services when they have been approved for these services as part of their aged care assessment.
Move towards a wellness model
Speaking on the Overcoming Barries: The Allied Health Perspective panel, general manager customer growth and strategy for Plena Healthcare Jason Skennerton agreed that SaH is a once-in a generation opportunity to “flip the script” on how allied health services are used, telling an invested audience that he is actually “looking forward” to SaH.
“We need to move away from care and move to a wellness-based model. So, I think Support at Home gives us the real pivot point to be able to do that effectively,” he said, “to move away from a model where we say, let’s just get you services to keep you in your own home, to how do we make you better first?”
While a lot of the SaH elements are still up in the air and things aren’t necessarily following the expected timelines, Mr Skennerton said a lot of the really key elements for a wellness and reablement model are in place.
In particular, the wellness and reablement requirements under the SaH Manual and the new Aged Care Act mean clinical services will be protected in the future.
“Clients won’t necessarily have the ability to spend an entire budget on cleaning. They won’t have the ability necessarily with quarterly cap environments to forego care for an entire year to save up for a home modification,” he said.
“It will be focused on people having regular cyclical instances of care that are actually designed to meet their needs.
“Other things that play into that is also the zero per cent client co-contribution as well, which I think is a fantastic addition to the program, knowing that there will be always encouragement from the consumer’s lens to engage in clinical services as well. And to that point, I think support at home will lend itself to this almost perfect storm in terms of allied health being the most appropriate solution for people moving forward.”
To avoid losing funds quarterly, Mr Skennerton encouraged strong package utilisation, noting clinical services allow the consumer to get the most value out of their services while minimising their out-of-pocket costs, as they are designed to make that person better and are focused on independence.
“A reduction of care management and support coordination fees under the Support at Home program means that package consumption for providers and package utilisation on a quarterly basis will become vitally important,” he explained.
“So your traditional home care consumer who has accumulated a lot of unspent funds, those people are going to become ‘extremely dangerous’ to home care providers to provide supports to in the future. So utilising packages strongly is going to be a really key point for providers moving forward and an area that providers need to focus on.”
Allied health essential to aged care
Elsewhere Ms Hobson-Powell said Positive ageing was about living optimally, not just living longer, and that allied health professionals played a vital role in making it possible.
“They are not optional extras to the aged care services. They are essential services that should be available for all older people. Aged care providers should focus on supporting people to thrive rather than care for the decline.”
“The future of allied health is bright,” said Ms Hobson-Powell, “but it will require careful planning, collaboration and commitment.”
Mr Skennerton was joined on the panel by Dr Robert Mulllins, Plena Healthcare national podiatry manager and Yvonne Feeley, national manager of dietetics for Food Solutions. Professional practice advisor aged care at Occupational Therapy Australia, Christina Wyatt, moderated.
Positive Ageing Summit day 1 highlights
This article was first published at Australian Ageing Agenda. Positive Ageing Summit is an initiative of Australian Ageing Agenda and Community Care Review.