The baby boomers enjoy a far better lifestyle than their previous generations did. They are more technically sound, have higher income levels and lower superannuation. So, what happens 20 years from now, when this generation retires? The biggest impact will be on the aged care services. This generation would be much more demanding in terms of the lifestyle that an aged care nursing home offers.
Baby boomers would expect the nursing home to provide lifestyle services like internet, quality dining, better designed homes, and much more. Now we come to the big question, are the nursing homes of today equipped to handle this societal change? At the moment, the answer would probably be no. Apart from the expectations of the future residents about the quality of the aged care nursing services, another important factor that will have a considerable affect on the future of aged care nursing in Australia is the increasing number of ageing Australians. It is estimated that by 2050, more than 3.5 million people would require aged care services. Do we have adequate number of nursing homes to accommodate this burgeoning number of aged people?
Let’s see where we stand today. Australia has a total of 2800 aged care nursing homes, which accommodate more than 1, 60,000 aged citizens. The future outlook says that the number of aged population requiring aged care services would surge to 2, 50,000 over the next decade. The largest percentage of this population would be people above the age of 95. This brings us to the next big problem, providing high-care services to an increasing number of people.
Add to this, the increasing number of people who are falling prey to dementia. Currently, the number of dementia patients requiring high quality dementia care stands at 2, 20,000. By 2050, this number is expected to reach a whopping 7, 30,000. This implies that we are going to see a staggering demand for quality Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care in the future. Not only would we require more aged care facilities offering Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care, but we would also require skilled health professionals like aged care nurses, allied health professionals, aged care assessment providers and assistants.
The current statistics point towards a huge deficit. The number of registered nurses and allied health professionals has been declining over the past few years. Today, the average age of nurses working in aged care nursing homes is about fifty years, and they are managing a huge workload. This shows that we are not equipped to handle the future demand for aged care nursing, and quality Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care.
The only ray of hope is Government funding, and the good news is that authorities have taken account of the situation and steps are under way to revamp the system. Last year, Government announced a funding of 3.7 billion for the aged care sector. It was also announced that aged Care Funding Instrument would be increased by 2.7 per cent per annum over the period from 2012-13 to 2016-17. This is what the minister of Ageing had to say on this, “We are replacing an aged care system designed a quarter of a century ago and which is now ill-equipped to meet the needs of retiring baby boomers and their parents who are living longer and healthier lives.”
Our homecare facility in Canberra has been architecturally designed and constructed to ensure that our residents, consisting mostly of those suffering from varying degrees of Alzheimer’s or Dementia, are able to wander freely around the facility. Of all the aged care nursing facilities in Canberra, we are the only recognised and designated facility specialising in advanced dementia management.
Kankinya offers a safe and caring environment to its residents and caters to the needs of a wide range of elderly residents. While our location is convenient to most aspects of Canberra life, but sometimes convenience is not all that you need. We always ask our prospective families as to what exactly they require for their parent or partner and the usual answer is, “We want them to be happy and safe” and this is the motto that guides us at our aged care facility in Canberra.
We are proud of the fact that we are the providers of best Dementia care in Canberra. Besides being the leaders in aged care and dementia management, we also take pride in being the safest facility in ACT. We comply with all the Nursing Home safety standards to ensure the safety of our residents. We have a “9C” Fire Safety Compliance which includes state of the art fire detection systems and sprinklers throughout. We understand that elderly have a right to a good quality of life and freedom, and we have designed our facilities keeping this in mind. Unlike all other Aged care facilities in Canberra, we do not have our residents locked away in so called “secure areas” that are hidden from the general public. Our residents enjoy highest degree of freedom within the safety of our facility, which provides a highest possible quality of life to our reside.
To know more please visit us at: www.kankinya.com.au/
The Future Of Aged Care Services In Australia
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