Aged Care Assessment Teams
ACAT CHAT - Autumn 2010
Welcome to Volume 29 of ACAT Chat.
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PDF printable version of ACAT CHAT - Autumn 2010 (PDF 156 KB)
Welcome to Volume 29 of the ACAT Chat
The Aged Care Assessment Program National Conference will be held in Melbourne on 20—21 May 2010 and up to 600 ACAT members have been nominated to attend. Once again there has been a great response to the call for abstracts and 18 ACAT members have been selected to present at the concurrent sessions. This year there will be poster presentations as well as exhibition stands. For more information on the Conference, refer to the article on page 7 or go to the Conference website: www.acap2010.com.auThe revised ACAP National Training Resources will also be promoted at the ACAP National Conference and circulated to ACATs by June 2010. For a more detailed report refer to page 8.
The electronic Aged Care Client Record (eACCR) project keeps rolling on. Queensland is nearing their ‘Go Live’ date. We wish them a successful roll out. See page 3 for a success story about eACCR from Western Australia.
The Australian Government Directory of Services for Older People 2010 edition is now available. The Directory is a guide to Australian Government programs and services of interest to older people. It contains a brief description of each of these and provides contact information for most listings.
The Directory covers Health choices, Accessing care, Employment choices, Finance choices, and Protecting your rights.
Copies can be ordered through National Mailing and Marketing on (02) 6269 1080 or emailing health@nationalmailing.com.au
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Inside this issue:
ACAT Chat contactsACAT Information sheet
ACAT Transition to eACCR in WA
The Revised ACAP National
Training Resources
Reminder to ACATs: eligibility for care
Aged Care Essentials Newsletter
Scholarship Rounds for Aged Care Nurses
Better Oral Health Training
New ACFI User Guide
Continence Aids Payment Scheme
Update details on ACAT Finder
National ACAP Conference 2010
Risk Management Fact Sheet
Vision 2020
DVA to pay Community Care Fees for POWs and Vc recipients
ACAP Contacts
ACAT Information Sheet—Translated Versions
The ACAT Information Sheet - ‘How ACATs can help you’ - is now available in 17 different languages and can be downloaded from the ACAT specific website.http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-publicats-multi.htm
Alternatively, go to www.health.gov.au > click on the “For Consumers” tab > scroll down to “Ageing” > and click “Support for people with special needs” from the menu options on the left.
The languages include:
- Arabic
- Chinese
- Croatian
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Greek
- Hungarian
- Italian
- Macedonian
- Maltese
- Polish
- Russian
- Serbian
- Spanish
- Tagalog
- Vietnamese
If you would like to order hard copies, please contact
National Mailing and Marketing
Telephone: (02) 6269 1080 Fax: (02) 6260 2770
Email: NMM@nationalmailing.com.au
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ACAT CHAT contacts
ACAT CHAT provides ACAT members with updates on the program from a National perspective. We would like to encourage our regional members to share information of interest from their local area.Informative articles and experiences give members a chance to connect with their interstate counterparts.
Your feedback, contributions and suggestions for articles to ACAT CHAT, are most welcome. Staff of the Department of Health and Ageing respond to all correspondence, promptly.
Please forward any contributions to either of the following contact points:
Email: acats@health.gov.au
Mail: ACAT CHAT
Aged Care Assessment Program Section
Department of Health and Ageing
MDP 32
GPO Box 9848
CANBERRA ACT 2601
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Aged Care Assessment Teams Transition to Electronic Aged Care Client Records in Western Australia
The challenge was on to have the sixteen Western Australian (WA) Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACATs) move from paper based assessments of care recipients to entering electronic Aged Care Client Records (eACCRs) onto the Medicare Online Claiming system by 1 July 2009. Two years of preparatory work involving staff in the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) in Central Office and WA State Office (WA STO), Medicare Australia, WA Department of Health (WA DoH) and UWA Evaluation Unit (EU) had tested and retested the system, discussed and discarded in order to make sure the necessary infrastructure was in place.This deadline was achieved with very few problems, due in large part to the EU, who supplied onsite training at the time of transition to every ACAT within WA. Now, almost nine months later, the ACATs have overcome issues which included some techno-phobic staff, IT systems which crashed at the most inconvenient times and, sometimes, the sheer frustration of learning a new system when work pressures may seem overwhelming. Now if they have problems the ACATs know who to contact: the EU for technical expertise, WA DoH for management issues, with any major policy queries or error correction requests being resolved by the WA STO, with support from the Department’s Central Office if required.
The success of the new system is apparent when the consensus of opinion from the ACATs is that they would never want to go back to the old paper based system of assessment. A comment in the recent Narrative reports from the WA ACATs noted that the delegate and the assessor needed to check the accuracy of all the information in the eACCR system more than they did in the paper based system. As a result, DoHA and Aged Care providers have the benefit of more accurate assessments.
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The Revised ACAP National Training Resources
The Commonwealth has engaged NSW TAFE to update the ACAP National Training Resources and align the format with the ACAP National Delegation Training Resources.Extensive work has been undertaken by NSW TAFE, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Ageing, to update the content of the training resource.
In late March 2010, NSW TAFE will conduct a two day workshop in Melbourne & Brisbane for those nominated ACAT members to trial the hard copy of the National Training Resources.
NSW TAFE also plans to conduct a trial of the eLearning resource commencing 23 April until 30 April 2010. For those ACAT members interested in participating in this trial, please contact your State/Territory Training Coordinator.
The Commonwealth will showcase the new training resources – both hard-copy and online versions – at the ACAP National Conference in May 2010. Each ACAT will be provided with copies of the new training resources by June 2010.
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Reminder to ACATs: eligibility for care
ACATs are reminded that having a carer is not a requirement to assess a person’s eligibility to receive residential respite care, CACP, EACH or EACH-D packages of care.Respite care is defined in the Aged Care Act 1997 as meaning:
- ‘residential care or flexible care (as the case requires) provided as an alternative care arrangement with the primary purpose of giving a carer or a care recipient a short-term break from their usual care arrangement.’
Similarly, having a carer is not a prerequisite for people to be assessed and approved as eligible for CACP, EACH or EACH-D packages of care.
ACATs should not be refusing to assess applicants on the basis of an absence of a carer, irrespective of the type of care they are applying for.
Nor should ACATs be refusing to assess applicants for residential respite care while they are currently in a hospital setting. While residential respite care is not intended as an alternative to rehabilitation services, it may be appropriate to provide a short-term break for the carer or the care recipient from their usual care arrangement providing the care recipient does not require rehabilitation services.
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Aged Care Essentials Newsletter
Payment Essentials newsletter has been redesigned and renamed ‘Aged Care Essentials’.Aged Care Essentials and past editions of Payment Essentials are available on the Department of Health website -
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-rescare-payessdx.htm
If you would like to see an article on a particular topic or more information on any aspect of Government subsidised residential aged care, contact agedcare essentials@health.gov.au
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Additional Scholarship Rounds Open For Aged Care Nurses
Applications for the Postgraduate Community Aged Care Nursing Scholarship Scheme will open on 6 March 2010 and close on 16 April 2010. The Postgraduate Community Aged Care Nursing Scheme is an Australian Government initiative aimed at increasing the skills of nurses working in the community aged care sector.For further information please contact RCNA on the freecall numbers for Community on 1800 551 201, Aged Care on 1800 116 696 or email scholarships@rcna.org.au
An Application and Guideline Form is available for download from the RCNA website:
http://www.rcna.org.au
Departmental contact: Community Aged Care Workforce Development Program manager on 02 6289 4159 or email community.aged.care.workforce@health.gov.au
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Better Oral Health in Residential Care Training
In March 2009 the Minister for Ageing, the Hon Justine Elliot, announced Australia’s first Nursing Home Oral and Dental Health Plan (The Plan). The Plan is designed to strengthen dental and oral health care in aged care homes from the initial ACAT assessment through to oral health care planning and management.One aspect of the Plan is the Better Oral Health in Residential Care Training project which has
commenced. The training aims to provide an increased awareness of oral hygiene issues for the staff in daily contact with residents. It is important to note that the training is not a replacement for professional dentistry services. All training materials and resources to support the training will be provided by the Department of Health and Ageing.
The training resources are available to view at:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-publicat-ordinfo.htm-copy1
Follow the Better Oral Health in Residential Care link within the In this Section box.
You do not need to request the training resources. These will be sent to your service once your staff have attended the training course.
Training is being provided for two registered nurses/dedicated trainers in each Australian Government funded aged care home, multi-purpose service and Indigenous flexible care service. The training uses a train-the-trainer model so that staff can in turn train the aged care workers in their facilities in daily oral hygiene.
Facilities and aged care workers will receive practical training resources. A self-learning package of tools and further resources will also be provided to registered nurses to enable them to undertake: oral health assessment; oral health care planning; and appropriate dental referrals for residents.
It is important that the right staff attend the training. Staff attending should be aware that this is a train-the-trainer model and that they will be expected to deliver the training once they return to their workplaces.
In addition, as one part of the training will focus on the self-directed package, it is essential that at least one of the two staff attending the training is a Registered Nurse (RN). If a facility has a dedicated trainer who is not an RN but who could very competently deliver the training, it would be appropriate to send the trainer along with an RN.
Further information about the training is available from:
http://www.health.gov.au/betteroralhealthtraining
The Aged Care Channel has nominated June 2010 as Oral Health Month. It will broadcast three modules based on the face-to-face training on 2,16 and 30 June 2010. These modules will serve as a good refresher for those who have already attended the training or as a good introduction for staff who will attend the training after June. More information on these programs is available from:
http://www.agedcarechannel.com.au/index.html
Any inquiries about the training can be directed to Jennie Della on (02) 6289 8020 or jennie.della@health.gov.au.
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New ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack
The ACFI User Guide and ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack have been updated and placed on the Department website. http://www.health.gov.au/acfiACFI User Guide | |
Page No. | Amendments |
| Contents page | with new publication date |
| page 14 | Mental and Behavioural Diagnosis Checklist - 550A – diagnosis of "Bipolar" has been added - consistent with the ACFI Answer Appraisal pack |
| page 22 | ACFI 5 - Continence - "Frequency of incontinence guide...." has been deleted |
| page 27 | ACFI 7 - Wandering checklist - "occurs twice a day" changed for consistency with ACFI 8 & ACFI 9 - ACFI User Guide - (previously "occurs at least twice a day") |
| page 36 | ACFI 12 - Complex Health Care – Under ‘Description’ - paragraphs “Where the management and practice is to be undertaken….. “ and the following 4 paragraphs, have been added for further clarification on complex pain management |
ACFI Answer Appraisal Pack | |
Page No. | Amendments |
| page 2 | Mental and Behavioural Diagnosis Checklist - 550A – diagnosis of "Bipolar" has been added - consistent with the ACFI User Guide |
| page 7 | ACFI 8 - Verbal Behaviour Checklist "twice a day" – changed - consistent with the ACFI User Guide |
| page 7 | ACFI 9 - Physical Behaviour "twice a day" – changed - consistent with the ACFI User Guide |
| page 11 | ACFI 12 - Complex Health Care - 12.4a and 4b "and practice undertaken" - added - consistent with the ACFI User Guide |
| page 11 | ACFI 12.9 - Herpes Zoster – has been deleted - consistent with the ACFI User Guide |
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Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS)
From 1 July 2010 the current Continence Aids Assistance Scheme (CAAS) will be replaced by the Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS).The CAPS is a scheme that provides a payment to assist eligible people who have permanent and severe incontinence to meet some of the costs of their continence products.
Under the new scheme, eligible clients will receive a payment that is indexed annually. This payment will be tax exempt and will be paid directly to the client’s nominated bank account by Medicare Australia.
The most significant change will be that clients under CAPS will have greater choice and flexibility in deciding where and when they purchase their continence products. Eligibility under CAPS will remain the same as that under CAAS. Existing CAAS clients will be transferred to the new CAPS program upon the completion of a transfer form and the provision of bank details.
ACAT assessors are reminded that clients in high care residential facilities are ineligible for CAPS.
Further information regarding the CAPS and changes to the CAAS is available on the Department of Health and Ageing Bladder Bowel Website www.bladderbowel.gov.au. Anyone with a specific policy enquiry can email continence@health.gov.au or contact the CAAS Policy Line on 1800 807 487.
For general enquiries and assistance with continence issues contact the National Continence Helpline on 1800 330 066.
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Update contact details on ACAT Finder
The ACAT Finder is part of the Department of Health and Ageing Aged Care Australia web site (www.agedcareaustralia.gov.au). The ACAT contact details on the website are taken from the Commonwealth Carelink Centers Information System (CCCIS) database. The nature of the content of the Aged Care Australia web site means many visitors to the site are potentially interested in ACAT information.ACAT Managers are asked to ensure your contact details are current and if not contact your local Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre—Phone 1800 052 222.
Please do not provide a personal email address for release on this website.
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2010 National ACAP Conference—20-21 May Melbourne
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Risk Management Fact Sheet
The Department of Health and Ageing (the Department) has been asked a range of questions by approved providers of residential aged care and community care in relation to risk management for emergency events.A Fact Sheet provides responses to questions already asked of the Department and will be updated as further queries are raised by providers. You can download the Fact Sheet on the following link -
http://www.healthyactive.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-mailfax-2009-2312aa.htm
For advice in a significant emergency event contact local emergency services or state fire authority. On general matters and access to accommodation information the Department can be contacted, during business hours via the Aged Care Complaints Investigation Scheme on 1800 550 552.
In Victoria and New South Wales the Department has dedicated Emergency Response numbers:
- Victoria 1800 078 709
- New South Wales 1800 852 649.
Vision 2020
It is often overlooked that many elderly people can have problems with their vision. These problems are usually not obvious or associated with any discomfort. Elderly people often think that they should not expect to see well, relating it to just “getting older” and often will not complain. Preventable vision loss from common conditions such as cataract, glaucoma, diabetes, refractive error and age related macular degeneration can be very gradual and can go undetected unless regular eye examinations are arranged.In Australia over 500,000 people are vision impaired or blind; this number is predicted to double by the year 2024 unless people take action to better care for their eyes and reduce these numbers. This increase in vision impairment will have a huge impact on the economy, with costs predicted to be higher than those associated with treating asthma and diabetes combined.
Vision loss is related to a high incidence of falls resulting in an increase in hip fractures, increased rates of depression and social isolation and often results in early admission to nursing homes. The good news is that 75 per cent of vision loss in the community is avoidable or preventable with timely treatment.
As the incidence of eye disease increases with age, it continues to be important for people to have regular eye examinations throughout their life. This enables good eye care, advice on vision problems and encourages timely referral to low vision services if required.
Low vision services provide assistance to people having problems with their vision. They can help people with vision impairment remain independent and socially engaged. The services available include advice on lighting and adaptive technology which can improve the quality of life for people with vision impairment.
Eye examinations can be provided by optometrists and ophthalmologists, with most of the costs associated covered by Medicare.
To find your local optometrist, visit the Optometrists Association Australia website www.optometrists.asn.au or contact the Australian College of Optometry on (03) 9349 7400 or visit www.aco.org.au.
To find your local ophthalmologist visit www.ranzco.edu or contact your GP.
Low cost glasses can be provided to eligible people in most states through the low cost spectacle schemes.
Further information can be found on these schemes by visiting the Australian Government website at
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/eyehealth/publishing.nsf/Content/links-lp
Low vision services are available to help people with vision impairment.
For more information on these services visit:
- Guide Dogs Australia at www.guidedogsaustralia.com or call 1800 804 805
- Royal Institute for Deaf Blind Children at www.ridbc.org.au or call (02) 9871 1233
- Royal Society for the Blind of South Australia at www.rsb.org.au or call (08) 8232 4777
- Vision Australia at www.visionaustralia.org.au or call 1300 847 466
- Vision loss support organisations provide support and information for people living with vision impairment and blindness. For more information on these organisations visit:
- Blind Citizens Australia at www.bca.org.au or call 1800 033 066
- Glaucoma Australia at www.glaucoma.org.au or call 1800 500 880
- Keratoconus Australia at www.keratoconus.asn.au or call 0409 644 811
- Macular Degeneration Foundation at www.mdfoundation.com.au or call 1800 111 709
- Retina Australia at www.retinaaustralia.com.au or call 1800 999 870
Alternatively contact Robyn Wallace, Vision Initiative Program Coordinator at
rwallace@vision2020australia.org.au or call (03) 9656 2020
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DVA to pay Community Care Fees for POWs and VC recipients
The Department of Veterans Affairs made legislative changes late last year to enable DVA to pay the care recipient fees for all former Prisoners of War (POWs) and Victoria Cross (VC) recipients that are liable to pay fees for their Community Aged Care Package (CACP), Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) or Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia (EACHD) package.DVA already pays the daily care fees for former POWs and VC recipients in Australian Government funded residential aged care. As home and community based aged care is becoming more popular in the veteran and wider community, DVA is extending coverage to include other community aged care services for former POWs and VC recipients.
DVA will pay all POW and VC recipient fees from 21 August 2009, and will also reimburse former POWs and VC recipients for any CACP, EACH or EACHD fees which they have already paid to approved providers from this date.
Where a former POW or VC recipient is in receipt of a CACP, EACH or EACHD package, they or their families should inform their aged care approved provider of their status. The approved provider should then contact DVA by telephone on 1300 550 457 to confirm that the veteran is a former POW or VC recipient. DVA will then pay the care recipient fee. Providers should not charge former POWs or VC
recipients any fees directly.
Please note that the fee charging policy for CACP, EACH and EACHD remains the same for all community care recipients. That is, the maximum care recipient contribution that may be asked of a person on the full rate of pension is 17.5 per cent of the basic rate of the single pension. Care recipients receiving income above the maximum basic rate of the single pension may be asked to contribute up to 50 per cent (minus tax and the Medicare levy) of this additional income towards the cost of their care.
A mailstream was sent to all community care approved providers in December 2009 to inform them of these new changes. A copy of this mailstream is available on the Department of Health and Ageing website at www.health.gov.au.
Should you require any additional information, please contact the Department of Veterans’ Affairs on 1300 550 457.
The information booklet:
5 Steps to Entry into Residential Aged Care is available on line at:
www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-rescare-resentry_a.htm-copy3 or by calling the Aged Care Information Line on :1800 500 853
The Aged Care Information Line has advised that callers often seek a replacement Pack after they have discarded the original given by their ACAT, because they did not understand why it was given to them. The are also receiving calls about the use of the Nominee Form, which they fill in immediately (instead of at the time of entry to a Facility).
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Commonwealth Government Department of Health and Ageing
New South WalesSandra Withers (02) 9263 3766
Victoria
Dannielle Miller (03) 9665 8180
Queensland
Denise McDonald (07) 3360 2852
Western Australia
Trudy Staynor (08) 9346 5247
South Australia
Luke Westenberg (08) 8237 8291
Tasmania
Vicki Colville (03) 6221 1466
Australian Capital Territory
Jody Herriing (02) 6289 2840
Northern Territory
Robyn Simpson (08) 8919 3454
Useful Contacts
Aged Care Info Line - 1800 500 853Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre - 1800 052 222
www.health.gov.au/acats
www.health.gov.au/acfi
www.aihw.gov.au
www.dva.gov.au
www.seniors.gov.au
www.rhef.com.au
www.agedcareaustralia.gov.au
www.commcarelink.health.gov.au
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Help with accessing large documents
When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended
that the following procedure be used:
- Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
- Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on
your browser
- Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded
file
Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking)
may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is
opening and/or lead to system problems.
Help with accessing PDF documents
To
view PDF (Portable
Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader
installed on your computer. A number of PDF readers are available through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Web Guide website.
Help with accessing large documents
When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended that the following procedure be used:
- Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
- Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on your browser
- Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded file
Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking)
may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is
opening and/or lead to system problems.
Help with accessing PDF documents
To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. A number of PDF readers are available through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Web Guide website.
