The benefits of retirement communities on the built environment are being lobbied once more by the Retirement Living Council (RLC), who say the communities can provide home care services to residents in a less costly manner.

The suggestion comes in the form of a ‘Shared Care’ framework, which would transform the funding and delivery of home care services. The RLC believes Shared Care will deliver greater efficiencies for consumers, government, and care providers.

“With the number of Australians over the age of 75 set to grow by 70 per cent by 2040, it’s not possible to talk about the future of care and the demand for these services without considering the important housing and health value proposition of the retirement living industry,” says RLC Executive Director Daniel Gannon.

“The reality is that hundreds of thousands of Aussies call a retirement community home, and the policy approach to home care should reflect that. We can’t address the aged care crisis by simply throwing more and more tax dollars at it, and the privately funded retirement living sector is ready and willing to play its part.

“Retirement communities can deliver better outcomes, experiences and value for older Australians accessing care – and there are benefits for the government too.”

Approximately one million Australians currently utilise home care services, with that number expected to rise. Gannon believes that costly administration fees, which can soak up a third of government funding, can be eradicated via his Council’s framework, saving up to $100 million each year.

“This ‘shared care’ approach would provide three models for retirement village operators to deliver community-based care services under the Support at Home program within the village setting, either independently or through a delivery partner,” he says.

“These models have been developed to show that significant efficiencies and savings to consumers and government can be achieved, even at moderate levels of uptake, with no cost to government.

“This is because retirement villages provide scale for delivering these services efficiently and cost effectively by reducing travel costs incurred by service providers, increasing the frequency of service delivery, and enhancing the quality and suite of services by leveraging those already in place at these communities.”

 

Image: Bowden Brae Retirement Village.