Translated resources

Star Ratings helps you research and compare the quality of care, safety and services of aged care homes across Australia.

Each residential aged care home is given an Overall Star Rating, as well as ratings in 4 sub-categories: 

• Residents’ Experience
• Compliance
• Staffing
• and Quality Measures.

Residents’ Experience is based on anonymous feedback  from people living in aged care homes – around 20% of residents are surveyed each year.

Compliance is how well the home is meeting its obligations to provide safe, quality care and services.

Staffing measure is the amount of care provided to residents by nurses and care workers.

Quality Measures looks at areas of health that are important indicators of care quality, like pressure injuries, unplanned weight loss, falls, the use of restrictive practices, such as physical restraint, and how medicines are used.

But what do the stars mean?

• A 1-star rating means significant improvement is needed.
• A 2-star rating means improvement is needed.
• 3 stars means an acceptable quality of care.
• 4 stars means a good quality of care.
• 5 stars is the highest rating, reflecting an excellent quality of care.

Ratings are updated regularly based on the most recent available data.

To start using Star Ratings to research and compare aged care homes, visit health.gov.au/StarRatings and click on the 'Find a provider' tool.

This will take you to the My Aged Care website.

You can search for an aged care home provider by name or location.

Select ‘Aged care homes’ in the ‘Care type’ drop-down menu and select your preferred room type.

You can narrow your search based on things that are important to you, such as specialised care, health support and language.

You can also compare up to 3 different aged care homes based on their Star Ratings.

Using Star Ratings is a good first step in the early stages of aged care planning to shortlist homes that could meet your needs.

You can also contact each home directly for more information on yours or your loved one’s specific needs and to check availability.

For more information about Star Ratings for residential aged care homes visit health.gov.au/StarRatings

0:04

As I’ve gotten older

0:05

I’ve noticed my health changing

0:09

My children are very supportive

0:12

but they have busy lives with work and family

0:19

Even though they’ve asked me to stay with them

0:23

I don’t want to be a burden

0:31

As my parents get older

0:32

it becomes very difficult for them to live independently

0:36

we have been researching and residential aged care homes

0:39

to find a place that can meet their needs and their professional full-time care

0:44

This was all new to us, so we talked to friends and colleagues to hear their experiences

0:51

However, we were recently introduced to Star Ratings

0:54

which has been our biggest help

1:01

As my grandmother’s support person

1:03

I appreciated that the ratings included feedback from residents themselves

1:07

It gave a more personal and authentic insight into the experience at each aged care home

1:17

I was very happy that I made the best possible choice for my grandmother

1:24

Using Star Ratings gave my loved one’s peace of mind

1:28

as I entered this new chapter and helped me feel comfortable in my decision

0:05

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining our community webinar.

0:12

Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we meet today.

0:20

And I would also like to pay my respects to elders past and present.

0:27

A few housekeeping points. This session is being recorded and will be shared with each of you after the webinar finishes, as well as be available on the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website.

0:45

I also want to remind you that you can turn on closed captions for this webinar using the CC button in the bar at the bottom of your screen.

1:00

So today we're here to talk about Star Ratings.

1:06

Star Ratings is an online tool helping you to research and compare aged care homes and assist in the early stages of planning for residential aged care.

1:22

Joining us today is a group of analysts who represent the voices of older people in Australia, multicultural aged care experts and service providers.

1:36

I'd like to extend a very warm welcome to our panellists, Anya Harrison, Agnieszka Chudecka, Selen Akinci and Joyce Zhao.

1:51

Panellists, could I please ask you to introduce yourselves?

1:58

My name is Agnieszka Chudecka and I am joining you today representing the PICAC Alliance.

2:04

It is a national Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care Alliance and we support aged care sector workforce with information, training and resources within the PICAC Alliance.

2:20

I have a very important role that I continue with pleasure being a PICAC Alliance National Secretariat Lead.

2:38

Good afternoon everybody or good morning, depends where you are. My name is Anna Maria Harrison.

2:46

I am representing number of bodies, but at the moment my big job is with Aged Care Council of Elders, which is based in Canberra and I am actually sitting in Canberra right now.

3:00

I'm also president of Umbrella Multicultural Community Care Services Incorporated. I'm also a founder of this organisation.

3:08

I also was the founder of Rainbow Multicultural work on number of committees, assist our Minister Buti, Tony Buti in multicultural affairs committee and so on.

3:21

48 years of experience in multicultural aged care, and welcome to everybody.

3:29

Hello everyone, my name is Joyce Zhao. I'm the Care Manager at Asquith Residential Aged Care Facility.

3:37

So I'm representing service providers and my role is to lead a clinical team to provide a high quality of care to our resident.

3:47

Thank you. Good afternoon everyone. I'm Selen, I'm the Executive Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra.

3:59

We are supporting culturally and linguistically diverse communities across various aged care and also the other community programmes as my dear the colleague Agnieszka.

4:10

So we are part of PICAC Alliance as well and we cover all NSW and ACT regions to build capacity in aged care sector.

4:20

And also in my role, I always see other key programs designed to improve access to services and improve quality of care for older people from diverse backgrounds.

4:34

One of them is Care Finder Program, where we assist individuals with complex needs in navigating the aged care system and accessing appropriate services, including residential aged care homes.

4:48

And another one is Australian Community Visitor Scheme, where we connect volunteers with all the people experiencing isolation to provide friendship and reduced loneliness.

5:01

So I'm delighted to be part of this panel today. Thanks, wonderful.

5:08

Thank you so much everyone for joining us to share your wonderful insights today.

5:15

So we do have a full agenda. Our session will be starting with a panel discussion on the residential aged care decision making journey, focusing on the key considerations that face multicultural families and communities.

5:33

We will then move on to the Star Ratings, how does it work, how to use it and how we can help inform residential aged care planning.

5:43

And then finally, we will come back to our wonderful panel to discuss the benefits of Star Ratings and how to help older people and their support networks to make aged care decisions.

5:58

And we will also be exploring some key benefits of the Star Ratings for providers and the industry broadly.

6:09

So before we do start, I would like to take a moment to explain how the Q&A function will work today.

6:17

In the final 10 minutes of our webinar, we will be answering some questions from our audience and attendees.

6:25

So in order to submit your questions, please use the Q&A function available within Zoom right at the bottom of the bar.

6:34

Your questions will appear to our panel and we will try to answer as many as possible in the time allowed.

6:41

And we will also be compiling a list of commonly asked questions and answers and providing it to you in an email along with the recording of this webinar.

6:54

So without further ado, let's begin. Choosing the right aged care home can feel overwhelming, especially if you're navigating aged care for the first time.

7:09

Anna, I'd like to start with you. What challenges and considerations do you see top of mind when people begin their residential aged care journey and are there things that older multicultural people and their support networks should be looking out for?

7:33

Thank you very much. For many people, decision to enter residential care is significant and emotional one.

7:40

Just imagine literally according to stigma there is- This is the last point of call and it is essential that the person making decision feels well informed, supported and empowered through the process.

7:57

One important consideration is overcoming is the stigma to be overcome, the stigma that we have which surrounds aged care, in particular in multicultural communities.

8:11

In some cultures, entering home may feel like a failure of family responsibility, which can make those conversations even harder to have.

8:21

Families and communities need to start those discussions now, early, addressing any cultural concerns openly and without judgement.

8:32

Another critical factor is support. The journey into aged care should involve multiple steps, with supportive services guiding the older person along just along the way.

8:47

Ideally the support comes from service providers if elderly person is the client of particulars service provider along with to go along with.

9:00

Ideally, the support comes also from friends and networks that the person is involved with.

9:09

It is very important to build up this bridge to help the person to enter the residential care.

9:15

It is essentially important for culturally and linguistically diverse communities wherein language support is vital and ensure all the people feel understood, included and respected.

9:29

Tools like Star Ratings play important role. It is like Booking.com you book the best hotel you also look for the best residential care that meets your needs.

9:42

It is a first step and starting point giving other people and their families way to research and compare homes using benchmarks.

9:53

I would look at the four components of the ratings that they are on a web page to actually take into consideration

10:05

the sense of safety, quality of care and the resident’s experience. For example, I would like to look at Star Ratings to understand how the home residential care is managed, what type of staff resourcing, what type of multicultural staff being employed, if we're looking for multicultural place and what type of lifestyle it's given to people when they enter residential care.

10:35

Or I would look at resident’s experience and I would try to understand views of the residents at the time.

10:43

Later, I will tell you the techniques I would use personally, if I would have to enter residential care or someone I loved, I would advise how to enter residential care.

10:55

Thank you, wonderful, thank you Anna. Agnieszka, in your opinion, what tools or considerations need to be in place to ensure people are better informed and more empowered in making these types of decisions?

11:16

Thank you for the question and it is so good to answer my question after Anna set up the context so well.

11:27

Because in my experience working with multicultural aged care, we see that many older people from culturally diverse backgrounds often delay entry into home, into residential care until it becomes absolutely necessary.

11:46

As Anna said, it is culturally informed, not necessarily the first choice.

11:52

So for these families, residential care may not always be the preferred choice and entry typically happens later and often in response to a crisis.

12:09

So it might be a hospital stay, it might be a rapid health deterioration, it might be the progression of conditions like dementia that make independent living increasingly difficult and or unsafe.

12:27

So the tendency to delay care also means very often that comparing CALD backgrounds older people and families to mainstream populations, multicultural older people usually are older and very often have more complex health situation by the time they enter home.

12:52

So in many multicultural communities, it's often family members, children or family carers that make those decisions supporting the older person.

13:04

So the priorities of the family can play a big role in such decisions, sometimes even more than the needs or preferences of the older person themselves.

13:16

For example, while an older person might prefer a home with others who speak their language and share the same cultural background, a family member or family members might prioritise things like proximity to home, which is more convenient for them as they provide support, stay connected and very often visit daily or even more often than once a day.

13:43

So, given these dynamics, a tool like Star Ratings can be especially helpful.

13:51

It provides families with an accessible way to evaluate aged care options on important factors as an asset, from quality of care to services that offer specialised, multicultural, culturally specific care that can influence their decisions in that time of crisis and being unsure.

14:17

For multicultural communities, being able to seek clear, transparent ratings for each home should make it easy for them to consider and compare important factors like quality of care or resident’s experience alongside convenience factors like proximity to home mentioned earlier, availability of a place and cost. And one more note to finish.

14:50

In relation to booking holidays, as Anna mentioned before, we need to remember that in aged care, people entering home might have planned many family vacations usually not relying on Internet.

15:10

So we cannot assume that digital format being user friendly for our everyone and hence we can use the potential of Star Ratings, but we need to have strategies in in place to support multicultural families.

15:34

Wonderful. And Selen, would you like to add to this? Yeah, great point Agnieszka. Thank you.

15:40

So I just want to add one of the biggest challenges for multicultural families like when choosing aged care is lack of clarity and easy to understand information.

15:51

So the process can like as you mentioned, feel confusing or overwhelming and especially when it is not clear where to start or what options are available.

16:02

So this uncertainty is often causes delays in making decisions like which can add more stress during and like already difficult hard times.

16:12

So individuals and their families like want to make best choices for themselves and then for their loved ones, but without the right information and tools that it can be impossible to know where to begin.

16:25

So tools like Star Ratings are very useful to solve this problem. So they give families a clear and simple way to compare aged care homes based on important factors like as Anna mentioned.

16:40

So by providing reliable and easy to understand information, Star Ratings help individuals and their families feel more confident and in control of their choices.

16:52

So they can make a complicated process easier to manage. So giving them a kind of starting point.

17:00

So also the Star Ratings has a website. There are lots of helpful resources there, including short videos that explain how the system works or real life case studies or families like who's already been using the tool or the fact sheets are available in many different languages.

17:22

So these resources to make it easier for families to understand their options and compare homes so they can also reach out to culturally specific organisations like your local organisations, community groups or aged care navigators.

17:40

So for extra support in their decisions, so tools like Star Ratings and additional resources can help individuals and their families to make them less stressed and more confident about finding the right right homes for themselves.

17:59

Thank you, Rea. Brilliant. Thank you, Selen. Joyce, you work in the service provider space dealing with older people and their families once they have entered a residential aged care.

18:14

So from your perspective, what are some of the things people should be considering but don't always think about until after they're in a home?

18:26

And how do we address this gap? So one of the biggest things we've noticed is that the families and older people often focus on immediate critical concerns when they're first looking at homes.

18:39

Things like cost, location and the application process. While those are the important considerations, they sometimes overlook the day to day care needs and the quality of life factors that become actually very important once they move in.

18:55

For example, when someone has advanced dementia it's very important to consider whether the home has dementia friendly facilities or specialised care areas.

19:06

For example, secure areas for residents who have advanced dementia or any thoughtful features like colour coded wars and memory boxes outside the rooms to help residents to feel more orientated and comfortable.

19:22

These are the kind of things we have to think about as care providers as they make a big difference to resident’s experience and safety, but they are not always top of the mind for families during the decision making process.

19:36

Another thing people often don't think about is the level of preventative care at homes, a home care that providers.

19:45

So things like for prevention measures, wound care or support for maintaining the mobility levels, they are critical to maintaining a resident’s health and independence and they are areas we focus on heavily in our clinical work.

20:04

Tools like Star Ratings can really help address this gap by giving people an opportunity to evaluate homes on these important factors and help inform their decisions.

20:15

For instance, people can look at quality indicators to understand how a home perform in areas that like for preventions or medication management.

20:27

By exploring this data early, they can make more informed choices and ensure the homes meets their needs or their loved one’s needs in a long term.

20:39

As providers, it's also on us to guide old people and their families throughout this process, helping them understand what to look for and what questions to ask.

20:51

It's not just about meeting the old people's immediate concerns, it's about setting them and their loved ones up for a positive and supportive experience.

21:03

Brilliant. Thank you, Joyce and thank you everyone for sharing your insights. So in summary, the aged care journey is about much more than just finding a bed.

21:16

It's about finding a place where the older person's needs and preferences are met, but also somewhere where they feel respected, safe and comfortable.

21:28

So in a moment, we will be recapping about how Star Ratings can support residential aged care research.

21:38

But before we dive into that, we're going to briefly explain the four categories that make up an Overall Star Rating.

21:49

And what we're going to do now is we're going to watch a video that explains the four categories that make up Star Ratings, as well as how to use the Star Ratings tool on the Find a Provider website.

22:08

Star Ratings helps you research and compare the quality of care, safety and services of aged care homes across Australia.

22:15

Each residential aged care home is given an overall star rating, as well as ratings in four subcategories.

22:22

Resident’s Experience, Compliance, Staffing and Quality Measures.

22:28

Resident’s Experience is based on anonymous feedback from people living in aged care homes.

22:34

Around 20% of residents are surveyed each year. Compliance is how well the home is meeting its obligations to provide safe, quality care and services.

22:44

Staffing measures the amount of care provided to residents by nurses and care workers. Quality measures looks at areas of health that are important indicators of care quality like pressure injuries, unplanned weight loss, falls, the use of restrictive practises such as physical restraint and how medicines are used.

23:03

But what do the stars mean? A one star rating means significant improvement is needed.

23:09

A two star rating means improvement is needed. Three stars means an acceptable quality of care.

23:15

Four stars means a good quality of care. Five stars is the highest rating reflecting an excellent quality of care.

23:23

Ratings are updated regularly based on the most recent available data. To start using Star Ratings to research and compare aged care homes, visit health.gov.au/starratings and click on the Find a Provider tool.

23:39

This will take you to the My Aged Care website. You can search for an aged care home provider by name or location.

23:47

Select ‘Aged care homes’ in the ‘care type’ drop down menu and select your preferred room type.

23:55

You can narrow your search based on things that are important to you such as specialised care, health support and language.

24:02

You can also compare up to three different aged care homes based on their Star Ratings. Using Star Ratings is a good first step in the early stages of aged care planning to shortlist homes that could meet your needs.

24:15

You can also contact each home directly for more information on yours or your loved ones specific needs and to check availability.

24:22

For more information about Star Ratings for residential aged care homes, visit health.gov.au/starratings.

24:34

Wonderful. So now that we understand how to navigate the tool to look at a home's rating and to compare it to other homes, what we also want to do is talk you through some of the additional resources and supports that are available for older people and those in their support networks.

24:55

As we have said throughout this webinar, the star ratings are an excellent starting point for research.

25:03

But when you're considering a home to move into, you'll have a lot more questions specific to your needs and preferences.

25:11

For more information about a specific home or to chat to them about their ratings, we recommend that you get in touch with the home's customer team to find out more or schedule a visit.

25:27

If you or a loved one is living in a home and would like to provide feedback on your experience, you can firstly talk to a member of your care team.

25:40

However, there are also other ways to ensure that your feedback is considered, such as the opportunity to participate in the Quality of Care Experience Aged Care Consumers tool as part of the National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program.

26:00

Just the QI program. And in addition to that, we know these conversations, they can be really tricky.

26:10

So if you are not able to resolve an issue with your home, the Commission can support you to make a complaint.

26:20

You can call 1800 951 822 or you can also lodge a complaint online at the website that's on our screen or there is an also an option to write to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission via the GPO box referenced on the screen as well.

26:43

There are other supports, so if you do need further support, please contact the Older Person's Advocacy Network at the number on your screen and you can connect for free advocacy services.

26:58

The Older Person's Advocacy Network is also available from Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM and on Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

27:08

And if you or your loved one speak a language other than English, you can also call the Translating and Interpreter service, which is TIS National, on 131450 for support to talk to My Aged Care or with your aged care provider about your services.

27:32

TIS National actually covers more than 100 languages and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the cost of a local call.

27:44

And as mentioned by all of our panellists, the Star Ratings have a suite of resources available on the website which is health.gov.au/starratings/translated that help to explain the Star Ratings system, how to use it and how we can help in the decision making process.

28:09

These resources are available in a range of accessible formats, whether that's print, digital video, and they also include the How to Use Star Ratings animation video we watched earlier. That video and all of our other resources are available in Arabic, Cantonese, Greek, Italian, Mandarin and Vietnamese.

28:34

And finally, finally, this is the very exciting part because we are going to be launching a series of video case studies and today we have a case study video that we're proud to share with you and that is Buddy's Star Ratings for Residential Aged Care experience.

29:05

My name is Kuar Pal Singh, but most people call me Buddy. My age is 84 years and I migrated to Australia in 1990.

29:16

My name is Parveen, I'm Buddy's daughter in law and I have been living in Australia since 1997.

29:23

Age care is something not thought or talked about until I had to. Back into Fiji,

29:31

aged care homes are very different from what is available in Australia so I did not know what to expect.

29:44

As my parents get older, it becomes very difficult for them to live independently. We have been researching residential aged care homes to find a place that can meet their needs and their professional full time care.

29:58

This was all new to us so we talked to friends and colleagues to hear their experiences.

30:04

However, we were recently introduced to Star Ratings which has been our biggest help.

30:10

This was always going to be a family decision and with Star Ratings, we can use website to show us the aged care home options to consider.

30:24

The website has been easy for us to navigate. The information was clear and having an overall rating makes it easier to compare homes without feeling overwhelmed.

30:35

They know it's important to us that the aged care home is respectful, if possible for them to also speak in Hindi, is friendly environment so our families are comfortable to visit us and has a good food.

30:55

Star Ratings helped bridge the gap between what our parents knew aged care to be like back home in Fiji and the care options here in Australia.

31:05

Together with our parents, we have been visiting homes and it has been helpful to see that Star Ratings have been accurate.

31:13

It's not an easy step to take, but knowing there are quality care options and tools like the Star Ratings to help us, we feel more prepared to make a big decision.

31:36

Wonderful. So now that we've covered what Star Ratings is and how to use it, let's go back to the panel to discuss the benefits of Star Ratings for older people, their families and their support people, as well as for service providers and the industry more broadly.

31:57

So to the panellists and maybe I'll start with Joyce, in your opinion, what is the value of Star Ratings?

32:08

So from the perspective of service providers, Star Ratings is an incredible useful benchmark because it give us a clear picture of how we are performing compared to national standards and other care homes.

32:24

At CASS Care, our initiatives are informed by our commitment to delivering high quality of care and by the kind of insights that Star Ratings highlight, such as the importance of minimising falls for or improving safety measures for residents.

32:44

The system also helps us identify areas for improvement. Every quarter we submit data on quality indicators like unplanned weight loss, pressure injuries and medication management.

32:58

By analysing this data, we can pinpoint specific challenges and address them proactively.

33:04

It's not just about meeting compliance standards. It's about striving for excellence in every aspect of care.

33:13

Ultimately, Star Ratings is a tool that drives continuous improvement, ensuring that we provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and their families.

33:26

Thank you, Joyce. And maybe now over to Selen. From your experience, what do you think is one of the values of Star Ratings?

33:35

Yeah, in our experience working with older people in their families, as I mentioned.

33:41

So one of the biggest thing about Star Ratings is how they make the process, like make the process like easier or less stressful.

33:50

So many families feel confused or unsure where to start, but having a clear system like Star Ratings gives them a solid starting point.

34:01

So it helps families feel like as, as I say, they're more confident and it allows people and their families to compare aged care homes easily.

34:11

So by using a find a provider tool on the My Aged Care website, they can search for homes in their area, filter the options based on what is important to them and compare homes using reliable and consistent information.

34:28

So everything is in one place like which makes process like more easier. Families can sit together, look at the information and make decisions quickly and with the trustworthy data.

34:40

So this this is especially helpful for multicultural families as they can check if home like meets specific cultural or language needs by looking at resident’s experience ratings.

34:52

So, and in addition to Star Ratings, the other tools can help families like make the right choice.

34:59

Like one of them is 10 Questions leaflets. So these leaflets created by nurses, doctors and aged care experts and they're very simple and easy to read leaflets and help individuals and also their families know what to ask when visiting or speaking aged care homes.

35:21

So they cover important topics like cultural needs, dementia care. So there are the 17 different leaflets there.

35:28

So by using these leaflets they can ask right questions to be ensured they feel comfortable and cared for in their new home.

35:38

For example, family concerned about culturally appropriate care might use the leaflets to ask detailed questions about how provider the supports diversity, inclusion or cultural traditions.

35:51

Or simply with the dementia care, you know, they can use and explore the providers approach the managing the cognitive changes or the staff training or if there is any activities.

36:06

So we are sharing the link in the chat, I guess. So I really encourage everyone to explore this, the materials.

36:15

Thank you. Well, thank you, Selen. And yes, the link's been popped into the chat for everyone.

36:21

And now over to Agnieszka. What would you like to share?

36:31

Again, thank you. And again thank you Selen for mentioning and promoting the 10 Questions.

36:40

Very often having an easy access to the starting point is what can make huge difference and build up that decision making capacity.

36:53

And I believe that one of the most significant impacts of the Star Ratings system is it's clarity and accessibility offered to older people and whole families during what can be a very overwhelming decision making process where people may be not necessarily so very sure how to start, where to start and what to what to ask about having no experience make it additionally complex and difficult.

37:31

So what Star Ratings provide is a structured, standardised way for people to evaluate different homes based on the same key criteria.

37:45

So they may have a look at quality of care, safety and resident’s experiences and also navigate that decision making process from different family members perspectives.

38:00

So, an older person my may be more curious about a new home, how it is going to feel like, while family might be maybe more concerned about the care options and how care is being provided or accountability measures.

38:22

So for older people, this is a way to ensure that their needs and preferences this remain central to that decision, rather than being overshadowed by other factors like proximity or convenience for family members, which may potentially empower older people to feel that their voices and their priorities are being heard, respected and remain at the core of that decision making process.

38:58

So as mentioned before by other panellists already, for culturally diverse communities this is particularly important, and for older people from culturally diverse backgrounds who may have unique concerns such as language support, communication difficulties, culturally appropriate food or activities that reflect their heritage and maintain that identity and remain meaningful.

39:34

So while these elements might not always be explicitly measured in the Star Ratings, the transparency of the process and the transparency Star Ratings provides about overall quality can still help families feel more confident in that decision making process.

39:58

So ultimately, it's a tool that not only informs choices, but also it builds trust in the aged care system and ensures that all the people's dignity and autonomy are prioritised and stay at the core throughout their care journey.

40:21

Wonderful. Thank you, Agnieszka. And now finally over to you, Anya. Keen to hear your thoughts on this.

40:29

I have plenty but I would like to limit my thoughts because we have limited time. I'm fresh after a Council of Elders meeting and we committed the government to do far more translations that will take into consideration demographics and elderly people moving into age care from post Second World War.

41:01

So hopefully we'll see more languages, more translations because Star Ratings is very interesting and very valuable tool and it will help all of us to actually take good, well informed decisions.

41:17

Star Ratings is giving elderly people and their families great help in making decision in many ways because they can look at ratings, they can make a decision.

41:35

It's like a traffic lights, you literally see red, you know, orange, green.

41:42

You have to be guided by something and you have to go. When you get the green one, it doesn't have to be 5 stars but say 4.

41:49

It's good enough to start the journey. And you must remember you can always change the residential care.

41:55

You can always go to different one if this one doesn't meet your requirements. And complaining is not the issue.

42:03

The government likes to hear complaints if there is an issue because we want to build up the best possible residential care in this country that we have.

42:12

It is important to research, it's important to ask questions. It's important that provider has transparency that that we can ask questions and get proper answers because before we make decisions and the answer should be in the language.

42:30

If family has issue with language, then interpreters will help to have a communication.

42:38

Another point is cto onsider community connections. In smaller places I guess like Wollongong, Illawarra, even Perth,

42:48

we know places, we know who is who, we know what essential care is available in for what particular multicultural groups.

42:56

We can advise, we can help, we can guide, we can step with the client working on that journey.

43:03

So Star Ratings is very useful tool and I think it's like I mentioned before when we go off holidays, we want to get the best.

43:13

This is not holiday, it's going to be new step in our life. It's going to be next step into new lifestyle.

43:20

It's not holiday event, it's life, our life and depends how happy we are.

43:26

That's how long we're going to live and our families will be happy. I don't have to go through that traumatic experience of feeling bad about it because sometimes you can't help.

43:36

You're dealing with elderly people who have suddenly developed very serious illnesses, Alzheimer's disease or had strokes.

43:45

And even though you can love them so much, but you don't have physical help, it’s a strength or mental strength to come with it.

43:53

And we have to help people to go together on that journey.

43:59

Wonderful. Thank you, Anya, and so many excellent points made by everyone this afternoon.

44:06

And funnily enough, we've gotten to a point where we actually have lots of good time to answer questions that have been coming through from our audience.

44:16

So without wasting any more time, I'm going to go straight to some of our questions.

44:24

So the first question that's come through is actually for Agnieszka and it's a question about asking and having conversations.

44:34

So, Agnieszka, from your perspective, how can someone navigate conversations with older family members about residential aged care when they need extra support but might not be ready to take the next step?

44:54

Absolutely. Very good question. And I guess a useful strategy could be tapping into our own experience, what happens to you and what you appreciate and need most.

45:11

When you feel lost, overwhelmed, when you are pushed by your life and circumstances into the decision that not necessarily feels very natural.

45:24

And in response to that, I would strongly recommend using cultural intelligence, cultural competency and try in the conversation, send two signals like I'm here for you to. For you not to feel alone.

45:48

You are not alone in the process. And secondly, I'm here to hear, to hear what is important to you. What is important to you, including why is it difficult?

46:03

Why is it overwhelming? What help would be the most useful to start with?

46:12

What would make it easier for you? So if it was for you to move to a home, what would be the most appreciated element of your new life of that transition?

46:29

And how can I help? So asking questions and inviting to the conversation by providing prompts, inviting the storytelling, inviting and packing that unknown and asking for questions to be to be asked, we may actually make the transition easier when people face what is hidden there and what might be sort of preventing that comfort or limiting that comfort in decision making.

47:05

Agnieszka, thank you. I think those two key points you referenced is something we can all apply in the conversations that we have on a day to day basis.

47:16

But absolutely, I think that's very important. So thank you very much for sharing.

47:22

There's another question that's just come up and it's a question that's been directed to Selen.

47:29

And Selen, you had mentioned some 10 Questions resource earlier and we do have a question that's come in specifically around that, which is someone's wondering what questions should I ask providers when visiting aged care homes or what things should I look out for to ensure a home is the right fit for me or my loved one?

47:59

Yeah, thank you, Rea. So we've been talking about it when visiting aged care homes, it's important to ask right questions because it's a, you know, like the another stage.

48:09

It's a very important stage in all life and then for all loved ones as well. So it's so important to like we make sure the homes like feels like a true home for you and then for your loved ones.

48:22

And these 10 Questions leaflets are specifically designed to assist individuals and families in evaluating residential aged care homes.

48:36

So each leaflet focuses on a particular aspect of care, providing targeted questions to guide discussions with providers.

48:46

So these resources aim to increase consumer knowledge and like ease the transition into the residential, the aged care homes.

48:55

So they are available like as I mentioned, the 17 different leaflets and then in different 17 the languages like including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages to cater the diverse, the communities.

49:12

So they cover the topics such as staffing, cultural needs, palliative care, contracts and fees, facilities and lifestyles.

49:22

So like these are, you know, the main usually the questions individuals are coming up, but there are the important areas to consider.

49:34

Of course, you know like you can ask how the home ensures the residents feel safe and supported.

49:42

Does the home provide culturally appropriate meals or bilingual staff or the spaces for the cultural or religious practises?

49:52

They listen the individuals or residents and like the families or how they collect feedback and how quickly they can act on those concerns and look at the communal space and type of activities they offer, like the cultural activities or is there any opportunities they feel engaged and connected.

50:15

Like you can start from there, but I really like to strongly encourage you to look at the 10 Questions to start that conversations because like it's already been researched and then like they are ready to use.

50:29

Wonderful, and I know that's really important to them because as we heard in Buddy's video earlier, he was telling us in the video, what were some of the important things to him.

50:40

And that was the staff being able to speak Hindi and also having culturally appropriate and yummy food.

50:47

So having some of those questions as prompts will be really important for people as they're navigating.

50:54

So thank you. And again, just for everyone on the call and on the webinar, the resources that Selen has referenced are in the chat function, if you wanted to have a look at them after this webinar.

51:08

OK. And then we've got more questions coming through. So one of our next questions, I think I'm going to direct this to Joyce.

51:17

So Joyce, how does someone know if someone knows them or their loved one-

51:24

How can they guarantee that they'll be healthy and safe in a home?

51:32

This is of course a very important and emotional question that people will have when they enter a home or finding one for their loved ones.

51:42

So it is important you take the time to understand the supports available at home and compared to you know, your needs, and visiting the homes gives you a chance to observe the environment and speak directly to the staff.

51:59

I think this is very important so you can visualise, you know, if you're happy with the, you know the place and with the staff and when you are there and pay attention to how the homes looks like and feels and are the communal areas clean and well maintained?

52:19

The safety measures such as the hand rails, clear pathways and the emergency response systems, they're easy to spot.

52:27

And when you're speaking to the staff, particularly the clinical teams and ask about the system they have in place to support resident’s health and wellbeing.

52:36

For example, you might ask, you know, how they approach falls prevention or do they use physical aids like a grip bath or a walking aids?

52:48

And do they conduct regular assessment to identify residents at risk?

52:55

And you can also ask about the medication management practices and how they ensure medications are administered safely and on time.

53:04

And similarly, inquire about the strategies to prevent pressure injuries such as like using specialised measures or turning schedules and their protocols for monitoring and addressing unplanned weight loss.

53:18

These are all important indicators of the quality of care.

53:24

Wonderful, thank you. And I think again, some excellent points there just around us having the autonomy to ask things, ensure that we're getting what we need from aged care providers.

53:38

And I think all of this, you know, from what Agnieszka, Selen and Joyce have shared with us, I'm already feeling more empowered to ask these types of questions and have these conversations.

53:50

And so then Anya from yourself, I've got one question that's come up here, which is asking us, apart from the Star Ratings, what other research can people do to find out if an aged care home is good quality and good fit, especially regarding the social activities and the community connection?

54:17

I do have big experience in this because being previous CEO of Umbrella and working multicultural communities. Word of mouth is number one because people have community connections.

54:33

They will talk to each other, they will give feedback from church, from spiritual leaders, through community organisations and of course being part of multicultural organisation, they will have access to information we have about essential care.

54:54

Another thing, of course we know there's a computer web pages we can look into Star Ratings.

55:00

That's all good, but nothing better than book the tour of the place. This is actually going there personally and seeing a place and it's look looking at things that might trigger the smell of the place, the feeling of the place, the type of food residents are eating, the look, decor.

55:25

Don't forget that being a future resident of the centre, you're actually bringing business to the centre and therefore you are very important customer.

55:35

So the providers, in aged care, they must look at you from that point of view as well because you have a right to change the place if you're not happy.

55:45

And that way the residential care will lose the funding. Therefore, really it's a win win for everybody.

55:53

If they're going to improve place to make it whole, beautiful, welcoming, then you will feel that staff is caring for you.

56:02

You can only learn about it being there and popping in and and having a right to have a good look.

56:08

I must say that we are very privileged and very lucky that we got into the point that our Minister Anika Wells, she actually put it through Parliament and it's been accepted the New Age Care Act.

56:22

After 30 years of living in totally different world, now we have this options of opportunities to change things for better and have this conversation.

56:33

I have full admiration for the staff of the Department of Aged Care. They are incredibly committed, loving and caring people wanting to change things for better in community and residential care.

56:46

So literally we should be looking at things really positive things are changing for better.

56:52

It will be better world, but we all have to communicate and try to navigate each other and support each other in the journey.

57:01

Thank you, Anya. And I think one of the things that just stuck with me with what you said is the fact that it's up to the individual.

57:10

You have the choice to go to an aged care home or to leave and to go to somewhere new.

57:17

And I think the power of the individual is so important here and especially the older person who's making the decision.

57:25

And so looking at the time now, unfortunately, I've come to my last question. So just to confirm that we have and we will be taking notice of any questions that we haven't been able to get to and they will be followed up by in written responses following this webinar and provided in email.

57:48

So if your question hasn't been answered, don't worry, we'll come back to you. But in the meantime, our final question to the panel and whoever wants to start can start and that is what help is available to access information about aged care homes for people with low or no English?

58:15

Agnieszka, all yours. Thank you. Hopefully I will just start, but giving short time.

58:25

You mentioned Ria on the slides you mentioned TIS. It is available, it is government funded and it should be used.

58:36

And once we've started using the funded service, we need to use it even more for both interpretation when appropriate and needed and for translation.

58:50

Government funded programmes, let's use them. Secondly, as Anya mentioned, look around who is there already as a volunteer, for example, visiting at home or who is working there or who lives there already.

59:14

Try to send messages across your social network, your friends, your family, friends who has already an experience in residential care options.

59:29

Look around because we all know it here that it is not about an individual, it is about community setting, it is about group context.

59:41

So information sort of circulates if you cannot fully communicate using the mainstream English language, look for connections available in your language and later on reach out and make sure certified government funded interpreters and translators are involved in the process to help you in conversation and to provide translated resources available in your preferred language too.

1:00:17

Thanks, Agnieszka. And Selen, I can see you've got your hand up. So it's just a time. But I just quickly mentioned, you know, the translated resources, the Star Ratings fact sheets and also the 10 Questions leaflets, the different 17 languages.

1:00:32

And also, for individuals who doesn't know or the very limited English. So they can go to the like advocacy groups, the Care Finders or bilingual staffs, really the CALD focused organisations, the local organisations and also some aged care facility homes that they have like the sometimes the internally, the translated materials, like if they are decided to visit the age care home so they can ask whether they have translated the resources or not how they get how they're going to ask.

1:01:06

So this is another thing. So, but the using TIS the starting from that point is Agnieszka and I mentioned, this is the important, important starting point.

1:01:16

Perfect. And Anya, last point from you.

1:01:23

OK, Just remember that if you go to, if you have connections with spiritual organisations, churches, those chair priests or community members would normally know a little bit more about it.

1:01:41

You can trust them, you can talk to them in confidence and perhaps may this guide you in a better journey.

1:01:49

But overall, I can assure you that government working very closely with government at the moment and the Council of Elders, they're going to do anything and everything possible to make you to, to go into the right place, understand the process and feel confident that the future is there for all of us.

1:02:08

Thank you. Thank you, Anya. Excellent point for us to formally end our panellists session today.

1:02:17

And what I did want to do is firstly acknowledge and thank our brilliant panellists today for sharing their insights, their experience and wealth of knowledge with everyone that's on the call today.

1:02:31

And what I also wanted to do was to just quickly bring up a final presentation slide to share with everyone on the call on this webinar.

1:02:42

In case you were wondering about the services that have been referenced on this webinar today that we do have in language resources available as part of the Star Ratings, which is available on the health.gov.au/starratings/translated page, and that is the How to Use Star Ratings animated video.

1:03:08

We have a fact sheet for older Australians and older people, a fact sheet for friends, family and carers of older people, and we also have a Frequently Asked Question and answer document, all available in Arabic, Cantonese, Greek, Italian, Mandarin and Vietnamese.

1:03:29

So just in case you were wanting some services or resources right after this webinar, please feel free to head over to the website and access all of these wonderful resources and to see some brilliant videos.

1:03:46

So finally, just a big warm thank you to all, all of our wonderful panellists and to everyone who has joined us as attendees and our audience.

1:03:58

Thank you everyone and have a wonderful, wonderful afternoon. Bye bye.