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Types of care
Community care
Most older Australians prefer to stay in their own homes, so there are a number of programs available to help out with daily living activities that may have become harder for you to manage on your own. This is called ‘community care’. The Home and Community Care (HACC) Program (more information) and Community Aged Care Packages (CACP) (more information) are two such programs, with services specifically designed for older Australians who would qualify for at least low level care in an aged care home. CACP provides a package of services whereas HACC may provide one or more services.HACC services aim to meet basic needs to maintain your independence at home and in the community. These services include community nursing, domestic assistance, personal care, delivered meals, home modification and maintenance, transport, and community-based respite care (more information). Two other programs, Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) (more information) and Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia (EACH D) (more information) also provide services for high level care needs at home. Eligibility for CACPs, EACH and EACH D is assessed by Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACATs or ACAS in Victoria) (more information).
Read more: About help staying at home
Aged care homes
If you can no longer live at home because of ageing, illness or disability, there are Australian Government funded places in aged care homes that you may be able to access. This is called residential aged care.There are two main types of residential care in Australia; low level care and high level care.
Low level care provides help with the activities of daily living such as dressing, eating and bathing, accommodation, support services such as cleaning, laundry and meals and some allied health services such as physiotherapy. Nursing care can be given when required.
High level care provides people who need almost complete assistance with most activities of daily living with 24 hour care, either by registered nurses, or under the supervision of registered nurses. Nursing care is combined with accommodation, support services, personal care services such as help with dressing, eating, toileting, bathing and moving around and allied health services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy and podiatry.
Residential care can be on a permanent or respite basis. Residential respite provides short term care on a planned or emergency basis. To be eligible for residential care you need to be assessed by an ACAT.
Read more: About help with aged care homes
Common questions on this topic:
- How can I tell which of these programs are best suited to my needs? Is there someone who can help me?
- How can I find out about programs to help me care for someone?
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