August 7, 2024Aged Care Employee Day, celebrated annually on 7 August, is an important day to remember the caring and professional work of our aged care staff. These staff are important to the health sector, as they work tirelessly to make the lives of older Australians better.
Funded Aged Care programs at Northern Health support some of our community’s most vulnerable people. Dedication and compassion are key traits of individuals who work within aged care. At Northern Health, we are fortunate enough to have amazing nurses, allied health professionals and many other support staff who work with our older population.
Northern Health has five residential aged care services (Caladenia Nursing Home and Dianella Nursing Home in Kilmore, Ian Brand Residential Care and Merv Irvine Nursing Home in Bundoora and McLellan House Hostel in Broadmeadows), that provide a supportive and safe environment for older people to live.
In addition to this, Northern Health has a number of funded home-based aged care services that support older people to stay well and in their home for as long as possible, hopefully avoiding or minimising hospital admissions. One of these programs is the Northern Health Home Care Packages (HCP) Program.
The HCP program supports approximately 300 consumers to remain at home with the support of a dedicated case manager and an individualised care plan and budget to provide services and supports needed.
All 16 case managers are Registered Nurses or Allied Health professionals, which is a point of difference to other providers according to Julie Williams, Manager, Northern Health Home Care Packages.
“This ensures we offer a very high quality of case management as clinical assessment and monitoring is integral to the role,” she said.
“Case managers visit consumers at home frequently as well as maintaining contact and monitoring by phone. We are very proactive is assisting with discharge planning from hospital in the event a consumer is hospitalised to facilitate safe and timely discharges.”
“We do not have our own direct care workers, but rather have contracts with many local service providers who provide the care in the home. There are four levels of home care packages, each with its specific level of funding that we need to factor into care planning with the consumer.”
Northern Health has provided case management programs for over 35 years, with change being the ongoing constant in aged care.
“The main difference from then to now is the focus on consumer choice. Consumers now choose where to take their package of funding and how it should be spent. Shared decision making and planning is undertaken by case managers with consumers and their families to ensure their home care package best meets their needs,” Julie says.
“We remain a provider of choice within our Northern Health catchment, which is a testament to not only the program’s reputation, but it is also often mentioned by prospective consumers that they have a strong and positive connection with Northern Health.”
“If you actually search for a HCP provider in Epping on the My Aged Care website, the search will provide you with 125 providers to choose from! It’s fantastic that people choose to bring their funding to Northern Health.”
In recent consumer feedback, a family reported they were, “initially overwhelmed by the multitude of aged care providers,” but, “chose Northern Health HCP because of its reputation.”
“Our case manager has not only met but exceeded our expectations. She embodies the values we associate with your organisation, and a worthy representative of Northern Health Aged Care,” said the family.
“This is a testament to a great program, and to our dedicated and experienced aged care workers,” Julie says.
To celebrate the day, everyone is encouraged to shine a light on our dedicated aged care workers and say ‘thanks for caring’ for their compassion and hard work.
Featured image: HCP team.
