Why everyone should care about aged care reform
Reflections
“You might be asking — why should I care about aged care or aged care reform? When I asked two of Anglicare’s aged care leaders this question, the following is what they shared,” says Dr Stephen Harrison, Director of Mission, Research and Advocacy at Anglicare Southern Queensland
Following the success of Anglicare Southern Queensland’s Homelessness and Housing Online Forum last year, Anglicare has decided to host further online sessions on other relevant topics.
The next session will focus on aged care and the ongoing Federal Government reforms happening in the sector.
Aged care is a significant part of Anglicare Southern Queensland’s work. We have eight residential aged care facilities, support 45,000 home and community clients, and run respite centres in 15 different locations.
You might be asking — why should I care about aged care or aged care reform?
When I asked two of Anglicare’s aged care leaders this question, the following is what they shared.
Group Manager, Home and Community, Sue Montgomery replied saying: “A society should be judged on how it looks after its most vulnerable members. As we get older, we become more vulnerable and therefore it is important we have a good aged care system in place. As an Anglican organisation our work is shaped by the third and fourth Marks of Mission. These tell us ‘to respond to human need by loving service’ and ‘to seek to transform unjust structure of society’. It is important as an organisation that we provide the best service we can and support change to improve the quality of aged care.”
Group Manager, Residential Aged Care and Retirement Living, Kate Hawkins said that: “Learning about aged care is essential for everyone. It’s important to be aware of the available services and understand how to access them. These are some of the topics we will cover in the online session.”
Sue and Kate both agreed that aging is a privilege and something that the majority of us will hopefully experience. This means that aged care and its reform are likely to impact nearly all of us at one time or another, either directly as recipients or as family members supporting someone we love in accessing aged care.
Demographic data tells us that the volume of aged care services needed in Australia in the next 20 years is going to increase. It is important that the quality of these services is improved or kept high.
One significant aspect of the Federal Government’s aged care reform is providing people with more choice and control over which provider delivers their care.
Join us for our online forum: Understanding Aged Care Reform with Anglicare. Friday 16 August from 1-3pm. This is a free online event open to anyone in the Anglican Church Southern Queensland community. Visit the Anglicare Southern Queensland website to find out more and to register.
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