Serviced apartments – and the role of assisted living options in retirement villages – have been highlighted as a potential solution to balancing the need for flexible accommodation and care among submissions to the Royal Commission on its Consultation Paper ahead of its funding and financing hearing starting Monday week.
Arthur Koumoukelis, a Partner at law firm Thomson Geer, has warned the Commissioners that they are missing an important opportunity to cater for the 80% of people that want to age in their own home, according to the Commission’s own research.
“The choice is not simply between a nursing home and your current home,” he writes in his statement which is not made on the behalf of the firm.
“Given that the Royal Commission recognises the larger number of older Australians, it must also recognise that many of those would be living as couples with one frail and one less frail. The frail would need to live in a nursing home, but the less frail would choose to live in an independent environment but still supported.”
“There should be a greater appreciation by the Royal Commission of the role that independent retirement village premises, structured as serviced apartments, play in the continuum of care. Even typical retirement villages that provide greater socialisation with minimal domestic (as opposed to clinical) support provide greater support for the aged than has been recognised by the Royal Commission.”
Mr Koumoukelis, who speaks from his personal experience advising the aged care and retirement village sector for 25 years and having his own mother and father go through the aged care system, argues the advantages of these models are many, including:
- The separation of care from accommodation;
- The ingoing contributions paid are not limited by the permitted use restrictions but are still protected in the hands of the residents through the Retirement Villages Act and statutory charges and registrations;
- They are a recognised form of housing being adopted by consumers and recognised by financiers;
- They provide socialisation and greater flexibility as to the range of services to be taken up by consumers as opposed to the mandated ‘required services’ under aged care.
The lawyer adds that had such an environment been available when his own parents needed services, he would have assisted them to move there instead of residential care.
It is a critical point for the Royal Commission to consider, especially in light of the evidence provided to this week’s home care hearing.
Direct experience witnesses stressed the importance of planning ahead for aged care and living in housing that is purpose-built for ageing.
The hearing’s international witness, Professor Jos Schols, a Professor of Old Age Medicine at Maastricht University in The Netherlands, also explained how the separation of care from accommodation there has led to a 50% drop in the number of people living in residential care as more people can access services from home.
Let’s not forget too Commissioner Lynelle Briggs’ catchphrase of finding the ‘joy’ in aged care.
Surely villages provide the best chance of this – will the Commissioners tune into this message?
