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on Tuesday, September 5, 2023
The Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) has welcomed the release of national design principles for residential aged care homes. “Older people and their families have been calling for the deinstitutionalisation of aged care for some time,” OPAN CEO Craig Gear OAM said.
“The traditional model of large, multi-bed institutions is socially isolating, and it deprives older people of their autonomy.
“The National Aged Care Accommodation Design Principles and Guidelines support older people’s right to live in a homelike environment with access to the outdoors and connections to the broader community.
“They identify simple, relatively low-cost changes that can be made to existing buildings as well as the best practice dementia design principles that are available to greenfield builds.
“And they contain practical examples of providers who have been able to achieve that.”
The National Aged Care Accommodation Design Principles and Guidelines are the centrepiece of the Australian Government’s new Residential Aged Care Accommodation Framework, which is due to commence on 1 July 2024.
“The guidelines are an important first step,” Mr Gear said.
“Now we need to find a way to fund and implement them.
“That is something the Aged Care Taskforce must consider ahead of its interim report in October.
“The taskforce’s draft funding principles, released last month, address the need for access to sufficient capital to encourage the development of new accommodation and upgrades to existing accommodation.
“OPAN is calling for any new funding to be tied to the National Aged Care Accommodation Design Principles and Guidelines.
“We would also like to see these guidelines incorporated into the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission reporting framework through the new Star Ratings system to ensure they become standard practice.”
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