Care Forward has been a contributor to a new report that has just been published, Perspectives on the Future of Ageing and Age Services in Australia, by Grant Thornton Australia.
I participated in conversations here in Hobart with other CEOs and executives from Tasmanian aged services organisations who participated and contributed in August 2019.
This was an opportunity to share my views on how to achieve the goal of making Tasmania the best place in the world to grow old.
Our focus was the long-term changes needed to support ageing well.
“What has been made very clear is that ageing and aged care services cannot be viewed in isolation and must become more embedded in the fabric of our society.”
Darrel Price National Head of Health and Aged Care Grant Thornton Australia
The report provides a summary of the views of providers across Australia.
Key themes include:
The consumer experience
Access to services
Collaboration and coordination
The role of technology
Workforce
Leadership and governance
Government and policy
Community expectations
Key messages coming out of the report include:
“Consumers of care services and their families have the right to choice and control of the services they need and want and who delivers them. They have the right to high quality and safe services from every provider and worker.”
“Workers need to be respected for the work they do in caring for the elderly. They are highly skilled and will adapt to a more consumer-centric model that provides pathways for them to learn and grow within the industry.”
“Providers have a significant role and commitment to make sure the sector delivers the best care possible to the people we support and will not be passive in advocating for a system that delivers it.”
“Government needs to recognise its role and make an undertaking for systemic reform rather than tinkering around the edges. This will come with increased risk and will require courage, willingness and commitment to change.”
“Our community needs to better understand the life changes that come with ageing and how services support people through those changes. Our community needs to better understand and accept death and dying as one of those transitions.”
It is my hope that Grant Thornton Australia will also engage with consumers and other key stakeholders to explore their ideas to provide a combined vision for the future of ageing and age services in this country.
I am proud to have collaborated on this initiative and contributed to this report to bring the industry together to talk about its own vision for the future.
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