Navigating the complexities of home care

Whether it’s connecting with a provider or getting together everything you need to access care, working your way through the home care system can be complex.

While the changes that came into effect in late February have given consumers more control and choice with their home care, aged care expert Dr Peter Hanley said the home care system can still be quite complicated for many people.

“The whole movement towards giving people more choice and control is a positive direction – but it actually makes an already challenging and daunting task more difficult for some,” he said.

“There are more options to consider, more organisations marketing to them … it can be very hard to make the right choice.”

To make it easier, Dr Hanley has pinpointed four key questions you need to think about:

1. What do I need: a care worker? a home-visiting physio?
2.  Where do I find those services?
3. How do I fund it?
4. How do I manage it all?

Fortunately, if you or your family are struggling to find the answers to those four questions, there are places you can turn to for assistance.

From the government’s My Aged Care portal to providers and various websites, there are now people who can help you navigate the complexities of the home care system.

Dr Hanley is using his team’s expertise to help people connect with home care, after co-founding CarePilot and launching an online resource that assists people on their home care journey.

“The first thing people should know is they don’t have to struggle on their own, there are people there who can help you through it,” he said.

“One of the biggest choices people face is how they will manage their home care – do they want to do it largely themselves? or draw on the support of someone else?

“We’ve seen a lot of people who would prefer to manage things on their own but don’t know where to start.  So we set out to create the tools to help them to manage things more on their own.”

Through CarePilot, Dr Hanley and his team are combining online resources with aged care experts to help you navigate the home care system.

“It’s about helping people with what they need to do and making it easier for them to find services,” he said.

“If they’re going down the subsidised services path – such as a home care package – we can help them link with other options they might not know they’re eligible for.”

Legal and financial planning service providers will also be gradually added to CarePilot’s services marketplace.

While CarePilot is only available in Sydney at present, there are plans to roll it out nationally overtime.

So, is the home care system going to get any easier?

Well, Dr Hanley believes elements of home care are always going to be a bit complicated.

“There are inherent complexities to home care,” he said.

“Fundamentally, older people with multiple health conditions have an inherent complexity to their health needs.

“The health care system and aged care system are very complicated, and the funding structures are complicated and changing.”

Instead, educating yourself and seeking the advice of experts is the best way you can navigate the system.

“The availability of services like ours and more education will make it easier to navigate the complexity,” Dr Hanley said.

Have you had to deal with the home care system before? Did you have issues navigating the system?