One of the leading causes of hospital readmission or slow post-hospitalisation recovery is the lack of proper support following a hospital discharge.
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Whether you are transitioning directly home after a hospitalisation or moving through the care continuum via a rehabilitation or medical care facility, in-home care is a key resource for a safe and successful recovery process. There a number of options of options available to receive in-home support post a hospital admission. These include:
• ComPacks is a program designed to provide up to six weeks in home care to people of any age discharged from a public hospital who require two or more services to facilitate recovery. These services may include assistance with showering and grooming, cleaning, meal preparation, shopping, transport, social support, respite, medication monitoring and home maintenance. Clients are required to contribute a small fee of $10 per week towards these services. Referrals are made through the hospital and then may be allocated to Interchange Australia as an approved provider to assess the patient and then provide the desired services.
• Transitional Aged Care Program (TACP) is similar to ComPacks but with a focus on rehabilitation. People can be referred from either a public or private hospital but must be aged over 65 years to be eligible. It provides eligible people with a package of services that includes nursing support, personal care, domestic assistance and low intensity therapy from physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work and speech pathology. It seeks to give the older person the opportunity to continue to improve after a hospital stay rather than to enter residential care prematurely.
• Additional Services – Interchange Australia is able to provide additional services on a fee for service basis to any person of any age to aid in recovery from hospital admissions. Services can be provided for as long or little as people need them, there are no contracts and there is no eligibility criteria. Services can range from individual services for personal and home care to a package of services to 24/7 care in the home. Services are individually tailored to meet client and carer needs and budgets.
- This article was written by Interchange Australia Consultant, Anne-Marie Kennedy. Interchange Australia provides a wide range of services for people with disability, older people and families with a child with autism. For more information about Interchange Australia’s services, visit: www.interchangeau.org, www.facebook.com/interchangeau or phone 1300 112 334.
