Meaningful Ageing Australia commends the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety for recognising the centrality of a meaningful life for each person who is accessing aged care services.
CEO Ilsa Hampton commented, “Humans need a sense of meaning, purpose and connectedness at every life stage, and even more so as we age.
“We are greatly encouraged to see the Commissioners have highlighted the vital importance of meaningful connections and relationships over transactional care and services. Everybody loses – staff, older people, and families – when the humanity of the older person is ignored.
“A meaningful life cannot be lived in isolation. This is why we see such importance placed on relationships in the Final Report. Decent relationships take time, and also a workforce who are equipped to be able to manage all the joys and challenges that a real relationship brings.
“For too long, passionate individuals who want to make a positive difference to the lives of older people have risked burn out by working in a system that is so under-resourced.
“Since our inception in 2013, we have been advocating for a needs-based system that cares for the whole person. We are delighted to see this as a feature of the Commissioners’ report.
“We are glad to see the government has begun to make moves to engage with the recommendations. Now it is up to us as a community to keep sending a strong message that we understand compassionate, holistic care and strong clinical governance costs more than the current system allows for, and that the accountability of service providers must include whole of person care, not only functional needs.”
Meaningful Ageing Australia is a registered charity.
Media details:
Meaningful Ageing Media contact:
Ilsa Hampton: ihampton@meaningfulage.org.au 042 575 8277