Article posted:Jan 20, 2011
Category: Home and Community Care
What is Home Care?If you or someone you know is not ready to leave their home, but feels the need for some help which is commonly found at residential care facilities, then Home Care may be an option. Home Care can help seniors by providing part-time services such as meal preparation, housework and heath care among other services.
Firstly the individual needs to be assessed by an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) to determine what extent of Home Care is needed. It is most likely that this assessment will be free.
They will place the individual into one of two categories. Those categories are EACH (Extended Aged Care at Home) and CACP (Community Aged Care Packages) and are government programs. If the individual is placed into the CACP category, Home Care could provide the following services at the person’s home when needed.
EACH services include:
- Allied health care
- Registered nurse care
- Transport to appointments
- Personal care
- Assistance with enteral feeding and/or oxygen
- Social support
CACP services:
- Laundry and cleaning
- personal hygiene
- dressing
- transport
- social activities and/or gardening
- food preparation
- medication
If the individual is placed into the EACH category, this means they require a higher level of care than those who have been assessed into the CACP category. If the individual is likely to consider moving into a nursing home at some point in the future, then it would be likely they would need a high care level.
Home Care in Brisbane
Home Care is a relatively new service in the aged care industry, but can be found in all Brisbane regions. CACP and EACH care are available. You can search for Home Care Brisbane.
More Information
Where can I get an ACAT (Aged Care Assessment Team) assessment?
ACATs can be searched for at the Australian Government’s Department for Health and Ageing.
You can search by state and suburb or post code.
What are the costs? Government versus Private Providers
The ACAT/ACAS assessments are free.
Private Providers and Not-for-Profit Organisations
There are also private providers which are sometimes in conjunction with government programs, however commercial rates do apply. Not-for-profit organisations may also provide Home Care and therefore with a charitable reduction.
Government Programs
The CACP and EACH packages are regulated and partially funded by the Government.
For those who are placed into an EACH or CACP package then no more than 17.5% of the individual’s income will be charged, if the individual is earning the maximum basic pension rate. If you earn a higher income, then you may be asked to pay additional fees but this fee cannot exceed more than 50% of your income.
Useful Links
