A Canberra family is calling for a comprehensive overhaul of Australia's aged care system after enduring a protracted and complex process to secure appropriate care for their mother, Val Cupitt, who has dementia. The Sheville sisters, Michelle and Lenore, faced a five-month struggle to find a suitable residential aged care facility, navigating a maze of detailed applications and limited options. Their experience highlights systemic issues that many families encounter when seeking aged care services.
The sisters' journey began with attempts to arrange supported care for Val to remain at home. Concurrently, they sought short-term respite care and permanent high-level care, each requiring unique and intricate applications. The process was overwhelming, leading Michelle to enlist her husband, Bernard, as an "application secretary" to manage the workload. Despite their efforts, it took five months to secure a placement for Val, facilitated by a private aged care broker.
This ordeal underscores broader systemic challenges within the aged care sector. The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) reports that occupancy rates in aged care facilities are around 94%, limiting choices for families and leading providers to "cherry-pick" clients to fit their financial models. OPAN's chief executive, Craig Gear, advocates for government-funded navigational support to assist families in accessing residential aged care, emphasizing that the burden should not fall solely on families to "beg for a place" in a facility.
The national peak body representing older Australians, Council on the Ageing (COTA), echoes these concerns. COTA Australia chief executive Patricia Sparrow notes that families desire personal assistance to navigate the system, highlighting the need for more accessible and supportive services.
The Sheville sisters' experience is not isolated. Many families report similar struggles, leading to calls for systemic reforms to simplify the aged care application process and ensure that older Australians receive the care they need in a timely and compassionate manner.