Home care packages

Your Aged Care Compass

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

Related Episodes

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

Connect with Coral Wilkinson:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Guiding you through My Aged Care | SeeMeACN website

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast:

Are you supporting an older loved one at home and ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is aimed at anyone who is caring for an older loved one who still lives at home and is wondering what support is available to them.

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 now 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. We reached a point however, of needing extra support and we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well, we knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

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

We will help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system, from your first contact with My Aged Care through to the different funding streams and assessment workforces, management options for home care packages and extra funding that people might be eligible for.

There's so much more. Topics relating to dementia and legal and financial considerations will be covered, as well as real life stories of where it went wrong for people and how we guided them to get it right.

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.