” There are more than 100,000 older people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, communities in Australia, who often have health care and support needs that differ from those of other older Australians.”
Australia ‘s aged care system is changing.
To have your say on the aged care needs of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, go to
www.surveymonkey.com/r/IUHAgedcare.
- Making informed choices
- Adopting systemic approaches to planning and implementation
- Accessible care and support
- Supporting a proactive and flexible system
- Respectful and inclusive services
- Meeting the needs of the most vulnerable
Priority outcomes specified in the Aged Care Framework, launched in Canberra by The Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP, Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health.
“Before this study people were aware of the impact of social disadvantage and poverty on poorer mental health in older Aboriginal people, but we didn’t really appreciate the important role that living with chronic illness and physical disability has in driving these mental health problems,”
The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute’s Dr Sandra Eades said the results should influence the Federal Government’s redesign of its Close the Gap targets. See Article in full Part 2
Read previous NACCHO Aged Elder Care articles HERE
Part 1 Survey Developing an Action Plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders aged care
Australia is a diverse nation, and older people display the same diversity of characteristics and life experiences as the broader population.
Our aged care systems is evolving to offer increased choice and control for consumers, and this transition to person centred care requires care to be tailored to meet an individual’s diverse needs.
To help ensure these needs are appropriately met, the Australian Government have announced an Aged Care Diversity Strategy Framework, which will include implementation Action Plans for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans and /or Intersex and Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Australians.
The Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (UIH) has been funded to lead the Action Plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, in collaboration with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO), and we need your help!
Have your say
To ensure appropriate input from all stakeholders, an online survey has been developed and interviews will be held throughout the country.
We want to hear from you, if you are:
- a consumer of aged care services, or the family member, carer or representative of one;
- an aged care provider;
- a peak organisation or representative group
What do we want to achieve?
It is expected that the project will deliver three significant outcomes:
- a proposed Action Plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care that will be an integral part of the national Aged Care Diversity Framework
- a detailed consultation report that will inform local issues as well as national priorities and the development of the action plan
- identified evidence based best practice for aged care service delivery to Indigenous communities based on a comprehensive literature review.
To have your say on the aged care needs of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, go to
www.surveymonkey.com/r/IUHAgedcare.
The online survey will be open until 26 February, 2018
Part 2
Resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
The Australian Government’s My Aged Care phone line and website can help you access aged care services to support you.
Part 3 Older Indigenous Australians with illness or disability at high risk of depression, study finds
By national Indigenous affairs correspondent Bridget Brennan and Specialist Reporting Team’s Naomi Selvaratnam
For the first time there’s evidence that disability, renal failure and diabetes are causing high levels of psychological distress in older Indigenous Australians.
Key points:
- Half of all Aboriginal people with chronic illness or a disability have mental health problems, study finds
- Expert says policy changes are needed to improve the health and life expectancy of Indigenous community
- There’s also calls for an overhaul of the NDIS to better accommodate Indigenous people
The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute’s Dr Sandra Eades said the results should influence the Federal Government’s redesign of its Close the Gap targets.
“Before this study people were aware of the impact of social disadvantage and poverty on poorer mental health in older Aboriginal people, but we didn’t really appreciate the important role that living with chronic illness and physical disability has in driving these mental health problems,”
Dr Eades said.In the month before completing an interview for the study, a fifth of Indigenous patients aged 45 or over had experienced anxiety and depression requiring professional help, as well as feelings of restlessness and hopelessness.
“We would say it would be exceptional for an Aboriginal person with disability not to have experienced anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.‘
Physical health impacts mental health
‘“Physical health impacts on mental health. It really highlights the need for the importance of the refresh of the Closing the Gap targets,” Dr Eades said.
“The Aboriginal share of the NDIS is between $1.6 billion and $2 billion, so that’s indicative of how much unmet need there is out there,” he said.
He added that many rural Indigenous communities require greater funding to care for those people living with disabilities.”So this requires a greater investment in communities so that people can support themselves, like it was always done in the past.”
“There are Aboriginal people that provide very good, high-quality care for their community members with disabilities, but what’s lacking often is the resources for them to be able to do that in a more substantive way,” Mr Griffis said.
“But there’s really no money being spent of any great note in this area, despite the urgent need.”
Mr Griffis has called for an overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to better accommodate Indigenous people.
Dr Eades urged the federal and state governments to put a “stronger focus on [Indigenous] mental health in the next 10 years”.
“If you don’t have an opportunity to participate both in your community, and in the wider community, then naturally that can lead you to feel very depressed and very down.”
“They feel marginalised and they feel at the edges and periphery of society,” said Damian Griffis, the chief executive of First Peoples Disability Network Australia.
Australians with severe physical limitations are more prone to being highly distressed, but that is especially a risk for Aboriginal people, the study said.
The policy to improve the life expectancy of the Indigenous community is being reviewed, because it has seen little success so far.
New research by the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute shows this is the case for half of all Aboriginal people suffering from significant health problems.