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Vietnamese Government Ministers and World Health Organisation Visit Arcare Keysborough

on Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Last month, eight delegates from the Vietnamese government and World Health Organisation visited Arcare Keysborough to learn about Australia’s solution to an ageing population.

A rapid increase in the ageing population in Vietnam has people referring to the country as entering an ‘ageing phase’, with similar quick growth occurring in Australia.

In 2011, the Vietnamese Population Change and Family Planning Survey found that the proportion of people aged over 60 was 10%. Similar to Vietnam, Australia has seen an increase in the proportion of people aged over 65 years, rising from 11.8% to 14.7% between 1994 and 2014.

With over 1 million people across Australia receiving aged care services and by 2050, an expected 3.5 million people, the aged care sector has undergone a series of reforms within the past decade as we grapple with the rapid growth.

Based on their 2011 findings, the Ministry of Health in Vietnam concluded that better long term care systems need to be put in place to cope with the needs of an ageing society. They looked at the reforms to the Australian system of aged care and leaders in the industry, such as Arcare, to design an effective long term care system for the elderly.

In 2013, the Living Longer Living Better reforms to aged care in Australia delivered more residential places and introduced Consumer Directed Care which provides greater choice and control over delivery of care. It also resulted in more transparency of accommodation payment levels and provided a choice of payment for those receiving aged care services.

As the biggest private aged care provider in Australia, Arcare has been at the center of this transformation of the industry. The Vietnamese government contacted Arcare to view its new Arcare Keysborough residence, as the first 5-star aged care residence in the Keysborough area.

The delegates, who also traveled to Adelaide throughout the week, focused on Arcare’s service delivery models and methods of financing for health and long term care.

Among the delegate members was Dr Pham Le Tuan, Vice Minister for Health and Ms Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong from the World Health Organisation.

During the site visit, the delegates were interested in finding out about Arcare’s Dedicated Staff Assignment, an initiative that received a Federal Government Better Practice award in 2015. This model sees carers looking after the same small number of residents every time they come to work.

The result is that families will always know who is looking after their loved one and residents form deep relationships with their carers and receive a more wholistic and intuitive care.

The Dedicated Staff Assignment is part of Arcare’s relationship-focused approach to celebrating and supporting old age, something that the delegates were particularly interested in hearing about.

Throughout the tour, a particular standout for the delegate members was the suites, which they commented were tastefully decorated and had a beautiful feel. They were interested to hear about how couples were able to access double rooms and wanted to know the size of a standard suite was.

Features like the hairdressing salon, private dining room and the theatre were also noted by the delegates who wanted to know more about the extensive lifestyle program on offer.

With photographs from around the world decorating the walls, the guests enjoyed seeing some stunning images from Vietnam and were able to recognize the scenes straight away.

At the conclusion of the afternoon, the overseas guests thanked Raima the Client Service Manager, and Sarah, Arcare Keysborough’s manager, and presented them with a beautiful handmade artwork.

Click here to find out more about Arcare's aged care services.

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