The different levels of Residential Care which are available
There are four levels of residential care.
• Rest Home Care – People who require this level of care usually have some ability to get about on their own or with someone helping them. They require some assistance with personal care and general day to day activities. Many have a degree of memory loss. Some people who have dementia may be able to be safely and appropriately supported in a rest home.
• Hospital – Hospital care is provided for those who have a significant disability and medical concerns. Most require the assistance of two people to move about.
• Dementia Care – Dementia care homes provide a secure home for those with a dementia and for whom there are safety concerns and possible behaviour issues.
• Specialist Hospital/Psychogeriatric Care - This type of care is designed for people with a mental health or dementia disorder who require a high level of nursing care and management of challenging behaviour. They therefore require a secure environment and the skills of staff trained in psychogeriatric care.
Reviewed: 20/08/2012
© Eldernet 2014
How to find out which facilities are certified and where to get certification audit reports
This link to the Ministry of Health website Certification of Healthcare Services shows which facilities are certified. Certification is ideally achieved for three years. (A shorter period usually indicates that the auditors require additional work to be done in order to meet full compliance. The issue may not be major. Do not be afraid to ask.) Certification Audit reports are progressively being made available on the Ministry of Health website as routine audits are completed. These can be viewed via this link: Certification Audit Reports.
Reviewed: 20/08/2012
© Eldernet 2014
What is Service Coordination?
Service co-ordination is the process of putting solutions into place that will meet the identified/assessed support needs.
With your permission the information resulting from the assessment is used by the service co-ordinator to help with the co-ordination of services. The aim is to help you live as safely and as independently as possible with the services arranged often having restorative components to assist you to restore (where possible) and/or retain your abilities. This may mean getting help from family/whanau and friends or setting up home support services (some of which may be publically funded; others you may have to pay for yourself). All options are explored and you will be asked what you think the solutions might be or what goals you would like to set.
In many instances the solutions will include increasing or varying services or support received at home. An ideal ‘restorative’ solution will factor in your personal needs and goals and assist you to reach these. The assistance provided will be to help you retain and possibly regain skills so instead of doing household tasks for you, they may work with you to assist you to do these tasks yourself. As an example an older person who is finding it difficult to vacuum the house may be encouraged to set the goal of vacuuming a room a day.
Where an assessment indicates a high level of need, residential care may be considered. If residential care is seen as being the best option the service co-coordinator will assist you to prioritise the things that are important, discuss the options that are available and assemble a list of residential facilities for consideration. Every individual is different and what is important to you may not be as important to the next person. There is therefore no such thing as ‘one best place’. Common priorities are:
• Location – near to family, friends or church etc
• Language – where your first language is spoken
• Homeliness - a smaller facility
• A place where you can take a pet
For further information about selecting a residential care facility see the CHECKLIST.
It needs to be noted that occasionally the services or support that you need may not exist or be immediately available e.g. perhaps your first choice of rest home does not have a vacancy (you may be able to go on a waiting list and wait elsewhere) or maybe you live in a remote area and no home help is available there. You service coordinator will have noted the problem but you may feel that you want to do something more. If you do not feel able to take the issue up yourself you may wish to contact the free Advocacy Service.
The service co-ordination process takes time and is not completed until the person concerned has settled into the service and indicated their satisfaction. The service co-ordination agency may be re-contacted at any time and the situation reviewed.
Updated 17/09/2012
© Eldernet 2014
The current asset thresholds for the Residential Care Subsidy
On 24 May 2012, as part of the budget adjustments, changes were announced to asset thresholds for the residential care subsidy. Essentially the asset threshold will be increased by the consumer price index each year on 1 July instead of by a flat $10,000 as previously. The Ministry of Health website article "Changes to the Residential Care Subsidy Asset Threshold" gives further information about these changes.
Reviewed: 20/08/2012
© Eldernet 2014
Living in a unit under an Occupational Right Agreement and becoming eligible to receive a Residential Care Subsidy.
The Residential Care Subsidy payment covers both care and accommodation. As you are already paying for some accommodation costs some compensation should be paid (so the provider is not being paid twice for the same thing; once by you under the Occupational Right Agreement and again through the payment of the residential care subsidy by the DHB). How the compensation is calculated should be determined between you and the village or facility operator however the DHBs will want to be assured there is fairness in this regard. It is possible you will have to pay some additional cost too for features/services you receive that are over and above the DHB contracted services. For more information on what may be a reasonable level of compensation you can contact Seniorline on 0800 725 463. You also can seek external advice from family, legal representatives or the local DHB’s Planning and Funding.
You should also be aware that you do not have to remain in your unit. You can choose to leave as per your Agreement.
Updated: 17/09/2012
© Eldernet 2014