Transition Care: Helping Older Victorians Regain Their Independence

PDF printable version of Transition Care: Helping Older Victorians Regain Their Independence (PDF 27 KB)

5 May 2009

More than 4,320 older Victorian residents have benefited from the Australian Government’s $293.2 million Transition Care Program since November 2007.

This program allows older people to move from hospitals and back into their own homes instead of prematurely entering aged care homes.

Australians have the longest life expectancy in the English speaking world. The Transition Care Program helps Australia and Victoria meet the challenges of the 21st century and our ageing population.

Transition care places provide up to 12 weeks of care with a possible extension of six weeks, either in the client’s own home or in a bed-based residential setting following a hospital admission.

The Transition Care Program provides low intensity therapy services, such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, podiatry, speech therapy, nursing and/or personal care services.

Of the 4,321 older Victorians who have used the Transition Care Program:

• 65 per cent received transition care in a bed-based residential setting;
• 23 per cent received care in their own homes; and
• 12 per cent received a mix of both.

Transition care places change and improve the lives for older Australians. Department of Health and Ageing data found that 78 per cent of transition care recipients in 2007-2008 had improved or maintained their functioning.

And almost half (49 per cent) were able to return to the community after taking part in the program.

The Transition Care Program currently operates 570 transition care places in Victoria. Of these, 256 are provided in a community setting and 314 are provided in a bed-based residential setting.

In March Mrs Elliot officially created 104 further places for Victoria as part of the second release of 470 places under the four year $293.2 million transition care plan.

In addition, Mrs Elliot has written to all State and Territory Health Ministers formally offering the places.

Nationally, last financial year, more than 10,100 older Australians received transition care.

The Federal Government provided $52.8 million for the Australian Transition Care Program in 2007-2008 and in 2008-2009, it is expected to provide up to $78 million.

Over the full four years, it is expected that $293.2 million will be provided for transition care in all states and territories.

Each funded place can be used by up to seven or eight different older Australians a year.

By mid-2012, when all 4,000 transition care places are fully operational, up to 30,000 older Australians would benefit each year.

Ageing in Victoria

Overall, as a jurisdiction, Victoria has a life expectancy for both men and women of 79.5 and 83.8 years, respectively.

Victoria has 502,145 people over the age of 70, comprising 9.6 per cent of its population and that is expected to increase to 742,794 by 2020, comprising 12.0 per cent of the population.*

Population Projections for Victoria population 70+

Year	2007	2010	2015	2020
Population 70+	502,145	537,942	616,369	742,794
Per cent of population	9.6 per cent	9.9 per cent	10.6 per cent	12.0 per cent

*Based on 2006 census

Residential aged care funding in Victoria

Over the next four years, the Australian Government will provide record funding and support of over $7.3 billion to Victoria’s 790 approved residential aged care homes operating 44,770 places.

And in 2008-2009 alone, Victorian aged care providers will receive record funding of
$1.6 billion for residential care – an increase of 9 per cent over the previous financial year.

For more information, contact Mrs Elliot's office on 02 6277 7280

 

---

To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available free of charge from Adobe's website.