Lee-Fay Low1, Jennifer Fletcher1, Meredith Gresham2, Henry Brodaty1,3. 1. Dementia Collaborative Research Centre - Assessment and Better Care, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 2. HammondCare, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 3. Academic Department for Old Age Psychiatry, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract
AIM: Investigate factors associated with waiting times for home care packages and outcomes for care recipients and carers. METHOD: Analyses of data collected every four months for 12 months from 55 community-dwelling older adults eligible for government-subsidised packaged care and their carers. RESULTS: Thirty of fifty-five participants were offered a package; they waited from one to 237 days. Baseline quality of life was higher for those offered a package than those not. Baseline care needs and unmet needs, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and cognitive decline did not predict offers. Package receipt compared to non-package receipt was associated with decreased carer burden over time but did not affect levels of unmet care needs, care needs or quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Being offered a home care package was not based on waiting time or unmet care needs. Reforms should include a transparent system of wait listing and prioritisation.
AIM: Investigate factors associated with waiting times for home care packages and outcomes for care recipients and carers. METHOD: Analyses of data collected every four months for 12 months from 55 community-dwelling older adults eligible for government-subsidised packaged care and their carers. RESULTS: Thirty of fifty-five participants were offered a package; they waited from one to 237 days. Baseline quality of life was higher for those offered a package than those not. Baseline care needs and unmet needs, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and cognitive decline did not predict offers. Package receipt compared to non-package receipt was associated with decreased carer burden over time but did not affect levels of unmet care needs, care needs or quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Being offered a home care package was not based on waiting time or unmet care needs. Reforms should include a transparent system of wait listing and prioritisation.