| Health, community and aged care sectors in
SA
Domiciliary Care SA has an obligation to be responsive to
government policy. In doing so, we are best able to maximise
the support we provide to clients and carers.
Domiciliary Care SA supports the Australian Government and
South Australian Government vision for health, community care
and aged care.
The national and state reform agendas seek to achieve similar
results in terms of improving the health and wellbeing of
Australians, including:
- better population health,
- better primary heath care,
- greater access to home-based care, and
- health programs tailored to meet the specific needs of
vulnerable population groups.
The Australian Government reform agenda
The Australian Government has initiated:
- The National Strategy for an Ageing Australia (2001),
- The Way Forward: A New Strategy for Community Care
(2004), and
- Helping Australians with Dementia and Their Carers
(2005)
as guiding national reforms that inform the Government’s
partnership with state and territory governments.
Visit the Australian Government Department
of Health and Ageing website.
The South Australian Government reform agenda
The South Australian Government reform agenda aims to improve
health care and population health. Reorienting service delivery
towards primary health care, providing integrated service
delivery and adopting a whole of government approach to health
services are important parts of this reform agenda.
Visit the South Australian Government Department
for Families and Communities.
Visit the South Australian Government Department
of Health
The Final Report of the Generational Health Review and the
State Strategic Plan are two documents integral to Government’s
health reforms, and to the aims of MDC:
- The Generational Health Review
The Final Report of the Generational Health Review,
published in April 2003, was commissioned by the South Australian
Government to make recommendations about the administration
of the State health care system over the next 20 years. It
recommended a system focused on:
- primary health care,
- illness prevention,
- health promotion, and
- early intervention.
View the Final
Report of the Generational Health Review.
The State Strategic Plan is the South Australian
Government’s overall vision and strategy for the State.
It was adopted in 2004 after a process of wide consultation,
and outlines clear objectives against which the State Government
will seek to demonstrate achievement.
There are 6 objectives and 84 measurable targets for South
Australia to achieve by 2014. Domiciliary Care SA seeks to
support home based care in line with the State Strategic Plan;
two objectives of the plan in particular are central to our
work:
Objective 2: Improving Well-being
South Australians need to be safe and healthy. We will identify
ways to improve living standards, protect our children, care
for our ageing, and meet our ongoing healthcare needs.
Objectives 5: Building Communities
We will strengthen and enrich our communities by encouraging
volunteers, building social networks and attracting people
who will contribute. In particular, we will strengthen health
services, education opportunities and infrastructure in regional
communities.
Visit the South Australian Government’s State
Strategic Plan website.
Community and aged care in Adelaide
There are a range of community and aged care options available
in metropolitan Adelaide. These include:
- Home care services – these are primarily HACC-funded
services; the majority of MDC services fall into this category.
- Community Aged Care Packages (CACPs) - Commonwealth funded
individual packages of support which provide the equivalent
level of support to low level residential care, in the client’s
own home.
- Low level residential care – such as hostel care.
- Extended Aged Care at Home Packages (EACHPs) –Commonwealth
funded, complex high level home care packages, equivalent
to high level residential care, provided in the client’s
own home.
- High level residential care – nursing home care.
Domiciliary Care SA operates within the broader system of
community care and aged care, and works to facilitate access
to other parts of the service system where appropriate. We
will refer clients and potential clients to other services,
on the basis of need.
With a shared vision to support healthy ageing and to promote
social participation by people with a disability, Domiciliary
Care SA at times collaborates with other government agencies
including the Office
for the Ageing, the Disability
SA and mental health services.
- Non-government organisations
Services in metropolitan Adelaide are also provided by a
large range of non-government organisations, including charitable,
not-for-profit groups and profitable private enterprise. MDC
operates in cooperation with other care providers.
Many major non-government organisations provide both residential
and community home care.
Some of the larger non-government aged care organisations
in metropolitan Adelaide include:
- Aged and Community Services Australia (ACS)
Aged and Community Services Australia is the leading national
peak body in Australia representing organisations providing
accommodation and care services to the aged. It represents
groups providing community care, residential aged care and
retirement villages.
Visit the Aged
Community and Services Australia website.
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