Consumer-Directed Care for Older People
Consumer-Directed Care is the name given to an approach in which service users are in charge of determining which services they access. Person-directed approaches are rapidly becoming the primary way in which services are delivered and UnitingCare Community Options is committed to real choice and autonomy for those who want it.
In 2003, staff at UnitingCare Community Options began working with a number of individuals with disabilities and their families to pilot family-governed and individualised approaches. We're proud to say that since then, the disability sector has embraced consumer-directed care and most Victorian state government funding is now individualised.
In 2008, we began a large-scale research project in conjunction with our research partner, Deakin University, to pilot and develop a similar approach for older people. The goal of the People at Centre Stage project is to learn more about person-directed approaches for older people and to share that knowledge. We also hope that the results of the project will help influence policymakers to increase the flexibility of funded packages. This project is currently in its final stages and we are already implementing much of what we've learned through the project with the people we support.
What is Consumer-Directed Care?
The essence of consumer-directed care is simple. It gives the person receiving services, or their primary carer (generally a husband or wife or perhaps an adult child), varying degrees of autonomy over a funded package of care. That means that the person or their carer makes decisions about how and where to best spend the funds that are available.
This not only gives the person the right to make important decisions over their life, it also means that the person with the most knowlege about their goals and aims, decides how to reach those. Consumer-directed care also has the advantage that where appropriate, more funding can be made available to the person because they are less dependent on the support of case management and care coordination staff.
Of course, case management is still a vitally important service and one many people can very much benefit from. We are committed to offering case management where appropriate, while letting those people that are confident about taking on more control do so.
Can I choose a Consumer-Directed Care package?
The Federal government currently funds a small number of trial consumer-directed care packages and consumer-directed respite care packages. These are currently all filled, however we expect that over the coming years the number of packages will increase. If you are interested in the option of directing your own care or that of the person you care for, please speak to your partnership worker or one of our Intake staff. We invite you to visit our research page to find out more about the People at Centre Stage project. We also encourage you to speak to your local Member of Parliament if you feel strongly about having the option to choose consumer-directed care.