Fundamental Of Nursing For Aged Care Assessment

Eligibility criteria for government assistance

Describe about the Fundamental of Nursing for Aged Care Assessment.

1. According to me, Mr. Jack is eligible for getting government assistance because he is more than 75 years of age and lives alone without spouse. Even his son is away from him and only visits him once or twice per year and his daughter, Katie visits him once a fortnight. Nobody is there to take care of him at home. He has fallen down two months ago and land up with major problems in his left arm and knee and is unable to attend his personal needs and go out from his home and so lost his confidence. Therefore he is eligible to get government assistance under Home care packages scheme.

2. As an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) member, I suggest that the most appropriate scheme for Mr. Jack is high level community care. This type of care is provided for Mr. Jack under Level 4 of the home care package as it gives a higher level of care to the eligible people which was provided under the guidelines of Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) assessments in 2015.  Furthermore this package is highly structured and coordinated approach for the care of elderly people with more complex needs. As Mr. Jack is 75 years of age with no support at home which could be served by the package as it provides all these support services needed for him by assisting in tasks such as washing clothes and ironing, cleaning the house, gardening and maintaining home. As he is unable to meet his personal needs due to the injury in left arms and legs, this package will provide personal/self-care services such as assistance with mobility, bathing and dressing for him.

He is also unable to go out which will be supported by this package by helping him in transport as shopping, visiting health professionals and social activities. It also provides clinical care including access to clinic, nursing, physiotherapy services which was given under Home Care Packages Programme guidelines in 2013 & 2014. If needed hearing and vision services should be provided. He has lost his confidence due to his inability to perform personal needs which could be overcome by this package. This package is highly flexible in the method of care and is home based which suits for Mr. Jack.

3. Mr. Jack is eligible to get level 4 services in home care package. He has to spend a basic fee of $139.02 from 20^th March 2016 to 19^th September 2016 and this rate increases on 20^th March and 20^th September each year which was given in my aged care services in Australia in 2016. This has to be paid by Mr. Jack as a basic amount. He has to get this support as he is alone and is unable to carry out his own personal needs and perform any life activities. In addition to that he has to pay fee depending on his income called as Income-tested care fee. He should pay this fee only if his income is above $25,711.40 per year which was given in Information Booklet on Fees for Home Care Packages in 2015. He can also claim for annual and lifetime caps for the income-tested care fee.

Appropriate home care package for elderly people with complex needs

4. He should be assessed for physical, psychological, social, financial and spiritual needs (Douglas, 2012). His level of dependency on others for his personal needs and how well he is able to manage the tasks of everyday life should be assessed. More specifically he should be assessed for the need of assistance in mobility, personal hygiene, etc (Lewis, 2014). He should be assessed for the need of special care in case of hearing and vision problems. Most importantly, the financial status of Mr. Jack should be assessed to aid him for some government assistance if required. As he is alone with no support, his psychosocial needs (counseling needs) should be identified. He should be assessed for clinical needs such as nursing care, physiotherapy as he has problems in his left arm and knee. His spiritual needs should be considered as this plays an important role in the healing of humans especially the old age people.

Mrs. Kylie, 34 years old woman is basically not a socially active person. She has only few close friends and spends a lot of time with her husband. There are various psychosocial and environmental factors that have contributed most to her poor outcomes. The psychological factors includes unexpected accident, immobility, lack of proper coping mechanisms, impaired body image, social inactiveness, etc has contributed for her poor outcomes (Douglas, 2012). Mrs. Kylie always liked to keep her physically fit but unexpectedly she has met with a motor vehicle accident and unable to perform her work. It embarrasses her to depend on others for support.

At present, she has no plan to go back to her work because of her disability and poor coping skills. She couldn’t be able to accept and cope with her current situation. She feels socially isolated as she stays in her home and only spends two hours on poker machines. Usually she was also a keen tennis player and played regularly and some ‘cardio tennis’ but know couldn’t play because of her disability. She is socially inactive, so unable to ventilate her problems to others.

Mrs. Kylie’s body image is disturbed due to the spinal cord injury and so feels much inferior. She has negative thoughts and so refuses to participate in social activities. This is a real loss for her and unable to accept the current status (Lewis, 2014). She has fear, and is highly depressed with poor adjustment. Inability in sexual activity due to injury also affects her psychology and causes poor outcomes. Sometimes the financial issues also affect her health.  Lack of motivation also affects her health. These changes increases stress leading to poor outcomes.

Level 4 services in home care package

The environmental factors also affect Mrs. Kylie’s outcome.  She did not have an overly active social life prior to her injury but had a few close friends that she saw relatively regularly. After injury, she rarely goes and spends most of the time at home. She is socially inactive, so unable to ventilate her problems to others. This lack of social support is a main environmental factor that has contributed to her poor outcome.

2.Mrs. Kylie had been treated under the Queensland Spinal Cord Injury Service (QSCIS) which is a state-wide rehabilitative service for spinal cord injury patients. Its aim is to empower these people and motivate them to participate in life activities and to improve the quality of life. It has three service delivery points of which the transitional Rehabilitation Program (TRP) and the Spinal Outreach Team (SPOT) are the most important points as they affect the outcome of the patient, if not provided properly.

According to QSCIS, TRP is a community based rehabilitation service provided at the time of discharge from rehabilitation centre to the home. It is also due to Mrs. Kylie’s poor coping skills and inability to accept the reality to overcome her situation. It is a collaborative approach involving various health care professionals. It includes services provided by physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, dieticians, leisure therapist, social workers, and psychologist. They establish a framework to meet the client’s needs and empower them by education and support. They promote the participation of client in their needs by overcoming the psychological and environmental barriers and help them to resume their life goals.

SPOT helps the spinal cord injury persons to participate in their roles by nurses, occupational therapist, physiotherapist and social workers. They help to reduce the impact of psychosocial and environmental factors on people affected by spinal cord injury through consultation and education which was given in QSCIS services.

References

Aging and aged care. (2015). Information Booklet on Fees for Home Care Packages and Residential Aged Care for People Entering Care. Retrieved from https://agedcare.health.gov.au/sites/g/files/net1426/f/documents/05_2014/info_booklet_roadshow.pdf

Douglas, C. (2012). Potter and Perry’s Fundamentals of Nursing- Australian version. (4^th ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier

Home care packages. (2013). Home care packages. Retrieved from www.citizensinformation.ie › … › Health services › Health services for older people

Home care packages. (2014). Home Care Packages Programme Guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/…/01_2015/home_care_packages_guidelines_2014.pdf

Lewis, S.M., Heitkemper, M. M., & Dirksen, S.R. (2013). Medical Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems. (9^th ed.). Missouri: Mosby.

My aged care. (2015). Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) assessments | My Aged Care. Retrieved from www.myagedcare.gov.au/eligibility-and-assessment/acat-assessments.

My aged care. (2015). How assessment works | My Aged Care. Retrieved from www.myagedcare.gov.au/eligibility-and-assessment/how-assessment-works

My aged care. (2016). Help at home: costs explained | My Aged Care. Retrieved from https://www.myagedcare.gov.au/financial-and-legal/help-home-costs-explained 

My Aged Care. (2016). Home Care Packages. Retrieved from www.myagedcare.gov.au/aged-care-services/home-care-packages

Queensland Spinal Cord Injuries Service. Queensland Spinal Cord Injuries Service Model -Queensland Health. Retrieved from https://www.health.qld.gov.au/qscis/documents/qscis-moc.pdf