What care is right for me?

When considering extra support as you age, the options can appear endless. But simply put there are two main types of care available to you.

What types of care are available?

The two main types of care that you can consider as you age are home care and aged care.

Let’s start with a brief explanation of why you might need home care.

Do I need home care?

There are many reasons why people use home care. Do either of these sound familiar?

• Getting around your house or to your latest appointment is a bit harder than it used to be. 
• You require nursing care and you want that type of assistance in the comfort of your own home. 

People who use home care are still independent, but might also need a little extra assistance in some day to day parts of their lives.

Home care is a great starting point  that evolves to suit your care needs as they change.

Some services of home care include:

• Personal care 
• Nursing care 
• Domestic assistance 
• Home maintenance 
• Transport assistance 
• Social support (virtual and in-person) 
• Exercise and rehabilitation 
• Respite care 
• Post hospital support 
• Meal preparation ...and more!

Examples of home care in action

At a minimum,  home care can mean something as simple as a house clean every fortnight or even just getting a lift to the shops once a week to grab the weekly groceries.

As you require more support, you might also get help with meals and a visit from the nurse once a fortnight to make sure you’re keeping healthy. If you’re finding it harder to use the shower or even get around the house, you might make the most of getting handrails installed or use other mobility devices to help out.

Finally, a higher level of care at home could mean that you have staff visit to help you have a shower a few times a week and make sure you’re keeping up with your medication and food.

Home care and retirement living

Home care has also been a fantastic addition for many retirement living residents at St Vincent’s as it supports the downsized lifestyle they like with a bit of extra support when they need it.

Do I need aged care?

 At St Vincent’s, we know home is where the heart is and so we would help you to stay in your home as long as possible. But eventually, for many, there comes a time where they need to make the transition into fulltime care to get the level of support they need to live happily and healthily.

This can be because:

• They’re not eating as much as they need to or eating too much
• They find it harder to get around the house, often using furniture to balance themselves
• They have trouble having a shower or going to the toilet
• They’re more forgetful and mails and bills are piling up as a result
• Recovery from a hospital visit has been slow leading to some of the above

People living in aged care need fulltime care for one or many of the above reasons but it’s not always straightforward when deciding on your own whether you need to access aged care or home care.

The truth is, the definitive way to get an answer on what care is right for you is through an ACAT or ACAS assessment.

The deciding factor

Truly, the definitive way to get help on a decision for what kind of care you need is getting an ACAT assessment. Through a trained team, you can work out what kind of care is best for you or your loved one or even determine if they need any care at all.

While an ‘assessment’ can sound scary, it’s very simple. In fact, we’ve written a guide on how to get the best out of your ACAT assessment.

Still having trouble? Just need answers?

 Call St Vincent’s on 1800 778 767 and our team can:

• Ensure you get the right level of care for your needs
• Simply explain the three different ways people pay for aged care
• Discuss how you can maximise your government subsidies
• Get the right information, quickly and easily through My Aged Care