industry & reform
Change for good
Academics argue the pandemic has created a prime opportunity for change .
Cassandra Szoeke interviewed by Conor Burke
There has never been a better time
to fix aged care than now .
The pandemic has opened wide the existing cracks that run through the sector and academics from the University of Melbourne believe this makes now the time for action .
Writing in Pursuit – the university ’ s research and commentary website – the academics argue that we should be developing processes to strengthen older people ’ s social networks , community connections , health , and to help people to grow old at home .
We should reimagine the way we view ageing and start talking about it at a young age . If younger generations have a say in how we care for the elderly , we might be able to change things for the better .
Professor Cassandra Szoeke – Director of the Healthy Ageing Program , Faculty of Medicine , Dentistry and Health Sciences , University of Melbourne – joined Aged Care Insite to talk about what comes next .
ACI : You and your colleagues wrote that the pandemic has created a prime opportunity for change in aged care . Where do we start ? CS : I think we have to start with the people , and I think that ’ s something that doesn ’ t often happen . I don ’ t just mean older people . I mean their families . I mean young people to help design their futures . I think it ’ s that integrated community view of ageing that ’ s been absent .
It seems quite simple , but why do you think that disconnect exists ? I think COVID-19 has really brought this into people ’ s homes every day . This crisis has shown all the weak points of the system in a very dramatic fashion .
You and your colleagues wrote that it can ’ t just be about creating new systems . Can you expand on that idea ? I think that if we were to create yet another system based in the same cultural model , then we ’ ll have the problem we ’ ve had over the last several system changes . There really is community and political intent , I believe , to do the right thing . So we ’ ve had a lot of evolution of the systems , but I think the problems we ’ re seeing are a cultural issue .
Really what we need is cultural change . We need a more community-based focus program . And once you ’ ve achieved that cultural change , and removed some of the ageism , you can innovate a system that ’ s fit for purpose .
Would the government have to get involved here somewhere ? Often people won ’ t do things unless they ’ re told to . I think that people often don ’ t know much about it . They see it as something that ’ s just being dealt with elsewhere . I really feel that this crisis has shown us what ’ s going on . And I think that everyone ’ s more cognisant now of these issues and therefore it ’ s the right time to start asking these questions .
I think something that hasn ’ t been done is asking young people how they would like to age . I don ’ t think that ’ s a typical question for them , but I think they have an opinion on that , and I think they should be asked .
Let ’ s talk about the idea of age friendly communities , and why these would be an important step in the right direction . Our thinking is that where we may have gone wrong with our current system is this separation from community . If you talk to system users , they ’ ll tell you it ’ s tantamount to exclusion . That ’ s why we want this more integrated approach because it ’ s that exclusion which I think is causing a lot of the system problems .
We know the Aged Care Royal Commission is going to bring down its findings in February . The counsel ’ s assisting have provided 124 recommendations . Was there anything in there that you thought was a good step in the right direction ? It ’ s an enormous task that they have taken on . I think to summarise , which won ’ t do it justice , the title of their report was ‘ Neglect ’. And I think if you just take that title , and some of the dramatic words they used – unkind , unsafe , uncaring – you can see the issues that they ’ re bringing to light and what needs to be done .
The Royal Commission is very much focused on aged care service provision . It ’ s very important to focus there , and obviously , oversight of the systems is going to be crucial to stop that kind of neglect that ’ s being described .
But I think there ’ s a whole second piece that wasn ’ t the remit of the Royal Commission , and that ’ s a focus on maintaining health rather than a focus on what people need when they ’ re unhealthy . So I think there ’ s a whole piece there on focusing on maintaining health , supporting people to have better health as they get older , and not ending up in the position where they require an enormous amount of care , although some people may still do that , but there ’ s a lot we can do in terms of preventing decline and the prevention piece is missing .
The pandemic has prompted a lot of people in the community to re-evaluate their own health . How do we get that societal change and start embedding it in young people ? The epidemic has really brought that to the fore because it ’ s starting to make people realise that ageing isn ’ t a number . Everyone was told that if you ’ re older you ’ re more at risk of a virus . And then they started talking about the people who died , who were young also , and that really made people start to understand age wasn ’ t a number .
10 agedcareinsite . com . au