What are ongoing care discussions?
Ongoing care discussions are regular conversations with your residents to:
- help you manage their care
- make sure your care and services are meeting their needs
You must record, monitor and respond to changes to the resident’s quality of life in accordance with the Aged Care Quality Standards.
What to discuss
Your ongoing assessment and planning should be a partnership with the resident and their support people, if requested. The goal is to support residents to exercise choice, dignity of risk and make informed decisions when they want or need it.
You may involve other organisations, people and services linked with the resident. For example, a family member, registered supporter, their GP or the Older Persons Advocacy Network.
You should discuss with your resident:
- the items in their service agreement
- the items in their accommodation agreement
- their higher everyday living, additional or extra service fees, whichever is applicable (if required)
- the safety and effectiveness of their care and services, including risks to their health and wellbeing
- their needs, goals and preferences, including advanced end-of-life planning, if they wish.
- You must communicate and document the results of planning and assessments in the resident’s service agreement.
Translation support
As a registered provider, you must ensure the resident understands:
- their care and services
- the fee they pay
- their rights and responsibilities.
If needed, use the National Translating and Interpreting Service to support ongoing conversations with residents.
You can also translate some of your information into languages other than English using our free translation service. This helps older people access the aged care services they need in their preferred language.
Learn more about your responsibilities to residents.
Monthly statements
You can choose to offer verbal or written monthly care statements voluntarily. This gives residents a summary of the care they received, and any changes or events.
This monthly update helps residents and their representatives keep a record of their care and inform ongoing conversation.
The Australian Government has yet to decide when monthly care statements will become mandatory. If you are planning to give your residents monthly care, let us know so that we can keep you updated.
Learn more about monthly care statements for residential aged care.
When a resident's care needs change
You can request a reclassification assessment if there are significant changes to a resident’s care needs, such as changes to:
- cognitive ability
- compounding factors
- function and mobility
- pressure sore risk.
The assessment will determine the amount of Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) funding that you receive to meet the resident’s care needs.
You can submit a request through the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal.
A standard reclassification assessment will typically occur within 28 days and an urgent assessment will occur within 14 days of submitting a request.
For more information, see Section 6 of the AN-ACC funding guide.