How to deal with our demographic future of an ageing population? One was is the status quo – hike taxes – but the other requires the courage to grapple funding to health and the elderly.
AAP
More than a decade ago the federal treasury produced the first Intergenerational Report (IGR), warning of the challenges facing the Australian economy due to demographic change.
The IGR warned that the…
Ageing couple Gorges and Ann Laurant (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva) negotiate illness and death in Amour.
EPA Claudio Onorati
During our lifetime, we face a series of developmental tasks that are universal to the human condition. The last of these stages comes in our final years, when we face our mortality, reflect back upon…
The children with the greatest level of disease also have the poorest access to care.
Image from shutterstock.com
Data released recently by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show the number of dentists has increased by 24% in the five years to 2011. There are now around 12,700 dentists in Australia, with…
How will the NDIS support life-long planning for Australians with disability as they grow older?
Image from shutterstock.com
Last week’s protest by several quadriplegic Queenslanders against age discrimination prompts us to examine how the National Disability Insurance Scheme should balance needs-based eligibility and entitlement…
Community attitudes towards the health system have improved significantly over the last four years.
Sarah Reid
More than half of the Australian population believe they’re in very good to excellent health, have a high level of confidence in the health system and support the policy direction that the federal government…
Depression isn’t an inevitable part of ageing.
Elderly man image from Shutterstock.com
As the baby boomers approach older age, the number of Australians aged over 65 is projected to rise from around 14% to 24% by 2056. Given that not even a massive influx of immigrants would reverse this…
Aged-care residents are among the most vulnerable in our society, with many reliant on pensions.
Kariobinja/Flickr
Recent media reports have highlighted an anomaly in residential aged-care funding in Australia: that day-to-day operations of facilities are governed by both Commonwealth and state government policies…
Up to 60% of nursing home residents are on psychiatric drugs and around 30% are on powerful anti-psychotics. Ulrich Joho.
Last night ABC’s Lateline discussed the case of 63-year-old John Burns, who died within 12 days of going into residential aged care. Burns was put into care after he started to display disinhibited sexual…
Young people in nursing homes aren’t free to eat, socialise and go out when they like.
morberg
Research published this week confirms what disability advocates have long known: that young people shouldn’t be forced to live in nursing homes. Our joint Summer Foundation and Monash University study…
The intensity of individual requirements for assistance will increase in the future.
Emiliano/Flickr
AUSTRALIA BY NUMBERS: The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the first batch of its 2011 census data yesterday. We’ve asked some of the country’s top demographers and statisticians to crunch the…
We need to set the foundations now for a healthy future of aged care nursing.
KarleQuin
Life expectancy in Australia is at an all-time high: pre-school-aged girls can expect to live to 84 years, around five years longer than their healthy brothers. By 2041, the 65-plus age group is expected…
Post-budget analysis has largely ignored the government’s achievements in aged care reform.
Ernst Vikne
Much of the budget analysis over the past week has concentrated on the shuffling of expenditure for 2012-13 back to this financial year in order to achieve a surplus. It’s true that $17.6bn of such transfers…
More than 600 young Australians with disabilities currently live in nursing homes.
Michelle Newland was 19 years old when she had a severe asthma attack that left her with hypoxic brain injury. After eight weeks, the hospital staff told Michelle’s parents that she was not suitable for…
A fairer and more sustainable system is being proposed.
flickr/louisa_catlover
The Government’s aged care reforms are a landmark for setting valuable directions for better care. It’s the first such major initiative in more than 25 years – but there’s a long and uncertain road ahead…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister for Aged Care Mark Butler today unveiled a $3.7 bn aged care package.
AAP
The Commonwealth government today announced a $3.7 bn package of reforms to give older Australians “more choice, easier access and better care” in their later years.
The Living Longer Living Better plan…
We need to rethink our aged care workforce and funding for dementia patients.
Alex E Proimos
Last week, Alzheimer’s Australia released a report that was highly critical of the way Australia’s aged care sector responds to the needs of dementia suffers and their families.
It’s an issue that demands…
A quiet but significant conversation about caring started across all levels of government and parts of the non-government sector this year. It emanates from two key reports from the Productivity Commission…
Ageism is pervasive on our television screens.
TheBmag
Most of us have no direct experience of psychiatry or severe mental illness. So our attitudes and experiences are shaped by what we are exposed to: mass media portrayals. Reality rarely makes good drama…
Chemicals are present in the brain a decade or so before symptoms occur.
Rosie O Beirne
Dementia is among the largest cause of disability in Australians aged over 65 and affects memory, intellect, rationality, social skills and everyday activities.
Alzheimer’s disease, which accounts for…
Older people are finally being consulted about the type of care they need.
EPA/Diego Azubel
Australia’s population is ageing, presenting an economic challenge to look after the most vulnerable members of our society.
The Productivity Commission released a report last month recommending a complete…
Every year outbreaks of influenza in aged-care facilities create major disruption.
Alyssa L. Miller
Flu outbreaks in nursing homes can lead to pneumonia, stroke and heart attacks among elderly residents. Staff are a major potential source of infection, but only around one in five get an annual flu shot…
Broadband-enabled technologies can ensure a more comfortable ageing process.
sparktography
Welcome to If I had a blank cheque … a series in which leading researchers reveal what they could (and would) do in their discipline if money were no object.
Today we hear from Dr Kate Cornick, Executive…
The Gillard government can expect resistance to implementing the report’s recommendations.
AAP
What is the most remarkable aspect of this report?
The Productivity Commission is proposing an important set of reforms with its Caring for Older Australians Report.
These reforms chart a way to cut…
