The Dementia Australia Chief Executive Officer Maree McCabe says that it is very alarming after the Royal Commission investigation has named its report into the Australian Aged Care Safety and Care this week as "negligence''.
Ms. McCabe says that there are over 52% of Australian seniors who reside in aged care facilities are diagnosed with dementia, and around 30% of Australian seniors are from Australian multicultural communities who speak other languages other than English, therefore a quality aged care standard is needed across the whole aged care industries on need-base.
According to the 2017 report from the Canberra University and Alzheimer's Australia, by 2056 there will be over 1 million Australian living with Alzheimer and it could cost the Australian health care system up to $1 trillion.
Moreover, we must stop the physical and chemical restraint in aged care facilities. Let's Australian seniors to have more says, to receive culturally appropriate services as well as establishing the aged care facilities close to communities where they can engage and participate with local communities to alleviate isolation.
The aged care industries claim that they are underfunded from the Australian government, that is why they at short of staffs and cannot provide suitable care for Australian seniors.
A recent report claimed, the home care package waiting list is also a pain, as around 16,000 Australians seniors have died last year (2018) while waiting to use these services.
But according to the Australian Department of Health media release on the 31st of October 2019, "the Australian government has invested into the Australian Aged Care System up to $21.7 billion in 2019-20 and will increase to $25.4 billion in 2022-23, as well as it will also increase the home care packages to more than double to around 160,000 in 2022-23.
According to Dementia Australia's CEO Maree McCabe, aged care staffs are not properly trained about dementia and it should be compulsory training for every aged care worker who works in the aged care industries to enable them to provide proper and appropriate aged care services to Australian multicultural communities. Thus "we as the Australian government, communities and the aged care sectors should work together to deal with as a matter of urgency."
