Home Care Packages and the Eligibility Criteria
The Australian Government’s Home Care Package program is designed to support older people who want to stay living at home. The Government subsidises the program, but you are asked to pay something towards the cost of the service. The amount you are asked to contribute depends on your income, assets and circumstances.
The program has four levels of packages for different levels of care and support needs, with each level receiving a different amount of funding. The money is paid directly to the provider of your choice and can be used to buy hours of care or other support that suits your needs. The program provides long term support; therefore once you have a Home Care Package, you can keep it for as long as you need it. You may be re-assessed for a higher level if your needs increase.
While Home Care Packages are meant for older persons (generally 65+), there are no citizenship or residency restrictions, although they are not meant for visitors to Australia or for people who need short-term care. Veterans who receive assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs can also be assessed for a Home Care Package.
Why should I choose Anglican Care as the provider of my Home Care services?
Anglican Care HomeLife is here to help you go on living independently in your own home for as long as possible. After all, you’ve spent a lifetime creating a home – it’s where you belong and where you want to stay. We are an innovative community and aged care provider, operating since 1956. We are a not-for-profit organisation that operates aged care services and solutions for seniors throughout the Hunter, Central Coast and Mid-Coast Regions.
While our focus and presence is local, many of our innovative ideas and programs have contributed towards improving the standards of aged care services nationally. We employ a Nurse Practitioner, Registered Nurses and Allied Health professionals including Physiotherapists and Dietitians. This contributes to a collaborate model of care that places you at the centre of decision making about your care. We offer a range of support from entry-level services through to palliative care. This means you can transition to other services seamlessly within Anglican Care as your care needs change.
Our Care Advisors will sit down with you to help clarify your specific goals and needs. This is an important step in getting to know you (and you get to know us) so that we can provide the best possible care and support. Then we develop a care plan that’s as individual as you are, taking into account everything that matters to you. The plan will include the details of what services you require to achieve your goals and how those services fit into your Home Care Package.
If you haven’t applied for a home care package, we can assist with that too. Plus, for those waiting on the national queue for a Home Care package, we now offer a new service called HomeLife Assist which can help you access services now.
Our HomeLife consumers can also have access to our various Lifestyle and Wellbeing Programs such as ‘Rene’ our mobile resource van. Our DART Program which incorporates therapy based strategies to decrease the escalation of dementia symptoms. As well as our latest program PamperMe, a mobile pampering service. We also host annual catch ups for our HomeLife consumers. To find out more about Anglican Care and our services go to www.anglicancare.com.au or call our friendly customer support team on 1800 733 553.
