Denmark is showing us why home care keeps people out of hospital

When home care began as a service in the 1990’s, it was in response to older Australians wanting their care provided in the comfort of their own homes as they got older.

Over the years home care has evolved and in 2015, became a consumer directed service where you as the client has the final say on how, by whom and when your home care services are delivered.

Home care has succeeded in providing the benefits to the community it intended, and this study shows that for each hour of home care a person receives will mean 6% less chance they will enter residential care.

And it continues to evolve and improve. Our governments are looking to countries like Denmark who have successfully prioritised and implemented home care in their community. Denmark now spends 50 per cent of its aged care budget on home care which has resulted in many less visits to hospital. There is also a declining need for nursing homes.

This article in Community Care Review summarises how Denmark came to be ranked as one of the best countries in the world to grow old and providing high quality long term care.

“It’s about encouraging people to stay at home in their own homes for as long as possible as opposed to going to nursing homes. It’s about putting the citizen at the heart of decision-making, it’s about integrating with the health care system, and most importantly it’s about prevention programs and rehabilitation.”

Following COVID lockdowns, home care clearly emerges as a preferred option in Australia

When the pandemic started and lockdown was put into place, confidence in general across the industry fell and some people cancelled home care services concerned for their safety.

This was to be expected as the extent and implication of COVID was unknown. In the past year, we’ve all learned a lot. At St Louis, we implemented COVID safe practices across the organisation in both our aged care residence and home care services.

An interesting thing happened during the lockdown however. Even though initially people were concerned about safety at home, this sentiment changed as the pandemic highlighted the benefits of home care and reinforced people’s preference to stay at home and receive quality care.

Home care services are now back to almost the levels they were before lockdown and our clients have resumed the level of activity they had before.

St Louis’ technology helps support clients and their families

We have been quick to adopt technology which supports the delivery of our services and were one of the first aged care providers to begin using CareApp. CareApp is a powerful tool for keeping everyone involved in the lives of people when you can’t be with them.

Through the App. St Louis carers provide families real time and visual updates of their relatives receiving care, sharing special moments and other important information about their health and wellbeing. CareApp has helped families to stay connected during lockdown.

Call us to discuss any home care concerns you may have related to COVID

Our home care team is here to answer your questions and address any concerns you may have with regards to delivering home care during COVID. Please contact the home care team in Adelaide on 08 8332 0950 or the home care team in Victor Harbor on 08 8552 1481 to discuss your needs at home.

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