Dad is known within our family as ‘the magic man’. But when it came to aged care, we faced an agonising choice | Tracey Spicer
What is good care? And how do we value it? I’ve been reflecting on this question after a difficult year for my dear dad, who recently celebrated his 83rd birthday. Paul Spicer is known within our family as “the magic man”. No, he doesn’t conjure tricks with a wand while donning a natty cape. Whenever he’s asked about his health, the state of society or a funny dog meme, the response is the same: “It’s magic.”
He’s a glass-half-full kinda guy, which is a gift for his two daughters. However, the magic is beginning to fade. Dad spent much of last year in and out of hospital after repeatedly falling over in his home.
Each time we secured emergency respite beds through the government-funded Carer Gateway program. Once he was back at home, my sister and I were able to boost his home care from level two to three. But he really needed level four.
One day he fell out of bed and couldn’t get back on his feet. Fortunately, the home carer found him an hour later. This incident sparked a belated conversation about the next stage of Dad’s life: aged care.
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In the coming years, the demand for aged care will only increase. Over the past two decades, the number of people aged 85 years and over grew by a whopping 100%, compared with the general population growth of 35%.
Women are in the full-time workforce in much larger numbers than ever before. There aren’t enough hours in the week to care for children, parents and in-laws while working to pay crippling rents and mortgages. Sadly, much of society’s unpaid caring responsibilities still fall to women.
My sister and I both offered to have Dad in our homes, but there are far too many stairs. These practical considerations are driving more elderly people into formalised aged care facilities.
Like most Australians, we found the revelations from the aged care royal commission deeply disturbing. Recently, the government released an exposure draft of the new Aged Care Act, slated to come into effect in the middle of this year.
For the first time, the draft act defines good care. The definition includes compassion, respect and dignity – basic human rights.
Care provider Your Side asked some of its 8,530 clients to characterise “good care”. The results? It’s personal and individual, requires excellent communication, and is timely and reliable. Most importantly, it makes you feel supported, boosting your emotional and physical wellbeing.
We need great training and well-paid frontline staff who aren’t under the pump supporting too many people at once.
We need health and community care systems to interact with each other so people can move seamlessly between hospital and home and GP.
And we need highly skilled clinical and IT people to develop systems that monitor risk and flag concerns. Backups are crucial for those times when a worker is delayed, sick or caring for someone else at home.
Higher wages and raising the status of the caring profession will attract more workers to this sector. But this will all cost money. So, what’s the solution?
Shortly, the final report from the aged care taskforce will be handed to the minister. The royal commission suggested two different ways of raising government revenue in this area, but both have downsides.
Forcing younger generations to pay more for the care of elders adds to intergenerational inequity. Some older people have assets that are providing high interest returns, or real estate that’s appreciating.
The taskforce is also considering user-pays contributions – currently the government funds 95% of home-based care and about 75% of the cost of residential care. If older people are asset-rich, should they be asked to release equity to pay for their own care?
This comes back to a question of value. Do we value care? And what place do elders hold in our society?
These issues were front of mind during the festive season. Dad contracted Covid-19 in his new home, a lovely aged care facility near the family home. He had to spend Christmas in isolation, which was devastating. Given his worsening emphysema, we feared the worst.
The carers were utterly brilliant. They got him on to antivirals quickly and transferred him to hospital when his blood oxygen levels dropped.
After several days on oxygen, Dad returned to his room with a spring in his step. He’s back doing fun activities with his new friends and enjoying three delicious meals a day, plus a steady stream of coffee and ice-cream. Suddenly, everything is “magic” again.
During almost every conservation, he says how much he loves living at the facility, and wishes he’d made the decision years ago.
Society should place a higher value on its elders. We need to view caring as the most important profession in the world. We’re a society, not an economy, after all. If we fail to properly care for one another, what future will we face? This is the most pressing question of our time.
As the great cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead said, “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”
Tracey Spicer AM BBus (Comm) GAICD is a multiple Walkley Award-winning author, journalist and broadcaster who has anchored national programs for ABC TV and radio, Network Ten and Sky News. For her 30 years of media and charity work, she has been awarded the Order of Australia. She is an ambassador for not-for-profit aged care provider Your Side Australia