Information for the Aged Care Sector Issue 2021/13

Published 27th July 2021

Connecting the Pieces – a diversity, wellness and reablement podcast

Connecting the Pieces is a podcast focused on connecting, supporting and promoting good diversity, wellness and reablement approaches in aged care. It is hosted by the Regional Advisors for Diversity and Wellness in the Victorian Eastern Sector Development Team (ESDT).

Building on the success of the Connecting the Pieces resource and film, this podcast explores the interconnected relationship between diversity and wellness in aged care.

The podcast:

• provides insights and good practice on diversity, wellness and reablement from policy through to practice and evaluation
• promotes an intersectional approach to service delivery that recognises and responds to consumers’ diversity, their preferences and lived experiences
• supports consumers to be empowered and active participants in their care
• explores person-centred care through a wellness and reablement model that is aligned to progressive and inclusive diversity practice.

View and listen to the podcast on the ESDT website or via Spotify or Apple Podcast, by searching “connecting the pieces”.

Seeking out training and information that supports inclusive delivery of care is part of Outcome 5: Respectful and Inclusive services for consumers, in the shared actions to support all diverse older people – a guide for aged care providers.

A culture of inclusion and respect is central to the Aged Care Quality Standards. Engaging in ongoing development such as this relates to the commitment to continuous improvement that is reflected in Standard 8 of the Aged Care Quality Standards.

Aged care reform webinar focuses on the workforce – 2 August

The department is holding a series of interactive webinars to share information about the aged care reforms announced in the 2021 Federal Budget, in response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

The webinar on 2 August focuses on how the reforms can help to grow a bigger, more highly skilled workforce that can deliver compassionate, safe and high-quality care through:

• financial support and incentives for aged care workers
• support for workforce planning.

Kevin McCoy, CEO Australian Unity, will join departmental panellists for the webinar. It also includes lived experience perspectives from the aged care workforce.

Find out more and register for this webinar on the department’s website.

Thousands of people participated in our previous webinars that covered residential aged care, information and communication technology (ICT), home care, dementia and improving outcomes for First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse people. If you missed these webinars you can go to the department’s website and access the recordings in the ‘Previous webinars’ section.

New Basic Daily Fee Supplement

The new Australian Government basic daily fee supplement provides an additional $10 per day, per resident. The supplement is available to approved residential, respite and flexible (multi-purpose services) aged care providers who formally agree to the undertaking and submit quarterly reports.

What you need to do now:

• If you have not already submitted the undertaking form, you need to do so to receive the supplement. Payment will be calculated from the date of submission of the formal undertaking.
• Collect quarterly food and nutrition and daily living services data. The first quarterly report for each service or outlet is due on 21 October 2021 for the period 1 July – 30 September 2021.

For further information, including reporting requirements, support and a link to the undertaking form, visit the department’s website.

Electronic National Residential Medication Charts

Electronic National Residential Medication Charts (eNRMCs) allow safe and accountable medication management in residential aged care.

The Australian Government will support residential aged care providers to adopt an eNRMC to:

• decrease medication safety risks
• increase visibility of residents’ medication records
• support timely provision of medications
• provide alerts to advise allergies, medication interactions, new prescriptions, follow up
• reduce the number of daily medications taken.

Several vendors are working to develop eNRMC systems which meet eNRMC technical and legislative requirements. Once these systems are approved, they will be listed on the electronic prescribing conformance register.

Use of eNRMC is not mandatory, however we encourage residential aged care providers to use eNRMC systems to ensure safe and accountable medication management.

Funding will be available to residential aged care providers to contribute to the cost of implementing a conformant eNRMC system.

Information about eNRMC benefits, records and what providers need to do is available on the department’s website.

If you have any questions, contact 

Report released: Evaluation of the Better Ageing: Promoting Independent Living Budget measure

The department engaged Australian Healthcare Associates to evaluate the Better Ageing: Promoting Independent Living Budget measure. The measure provided $29.2 million to 30 June 2020 over two years to design, trial and measure supports to assist senior Australians to live more independently.

This report presents the outcomes of the evaluation conducted from February 2019 to December 2020. The measure comprised a trial of a reablement model and a range of national complementary support strategies to examine:

• clients assessed in reablement (trial clients) and a control group of clients assessed by five participating Regional Assessment Services (RAS) from July 2019 to June 2020
• Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) services recommended and those provided
• client reported outcomes
• development and delivery of specialised training in reablement for assessors
• development of national reablement training for CHSP support workers and managers
• development of a change management strategy to support CHSP organisations embed reablement practices into everyday service delivery approaches.

The review included qualitative and quantitative data collection activities and consultations with relevant stakeholders. This review will help inform future policy development and care at home more broadly.

The report is available on the department’s website.

Source:
Unknown Author, 2021, Department of Health (https://www.health.gov.au/)