About Monthly Care Statements
A Monthly Care Statement is a written statement that providers give to residents and their representatives every month.
The statement summarises:
- the care the resident accesses
- changes to the resident’s health or care needs
- other relevant events that occurred in the previous period.
We encourage all residential aged care homes to offer Monthly Care Statements.
Why they are important
Monthly Care Statements help to improve communication between providers and residents and their representatives about residents’ health, wellbeing and care needs.
The statements were introduced in response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
What is included in a statement
For all residents, statements include information on:
- wellbeing activities, such as social activities, arts and craft, or exercise
- nutrition and weight
- changes to medication
- appointments, hospital or doctor visits.
When relevant, statements may also include:
- summary information (diagnoses)
- wound management
- mobility and falls.
Benefits for residents
Monthly Care Statements will give residents:
- important information in one easy-to-read statement, so they can monitor their care
- an overview of wellbeing activities, nutrition and weight, medication change and appointments
- a prompt for further conversations with their provider about whether their care needs adjusting
- confidence their provider has listened and acted on their requests and feedback
- increased visibility of their provider’s care assessments and planning results, which providers must make available to residents under the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards (Outcome 3.1).
Benefits for providers
Monthly Care Statements benefit providers by:
- helping you review and adjust care management plans
- improving communication with your residents about their care needs
- helping you address concerns in a timely way
- identifying trends in the feedback you receive, which can help you to improve care across your home.
Contribution to care minutes
What contributes
Clinical activities related to Monthly Care Statements will contribute to care minutes if they are completed by:
- a registered nurse
- an enrolled nurse
- a personal care worker/assistant in nursing.
Clinical activities that contribute to care minutes include:
- the clinical review of the statement (for example, checking whether changes to a resident’s care plan are required)
- follow-up conversations with the resident about the statement
- refining and amending a resident’s care plan.
See more information about what activities count towards care minutes in the Care minutes and 24/7 registered nurse responsibility guide.
What does not contribute
Administrative tasks related to Monthly Care Statements do not contribute to care minutes, because they are not direct care activities. This includes time spent:
- developing internal processes
- staff developing and quality checking the statements
- distributing written Monthly Care Statements.
Support and guidance
To learn more about preparing Monthly Care Statements, read our:
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