There are three separate stages of help offered;

Stage 1- Finding a facility

Here we would take a brief from you, about what you would like, where area you would like to be, are there any ethnic preferences or religious preferences, whether you prefer a single room or would rather be in a shared room. It is extremely important to understand whether you are or would be a “Supported” or an “Unsupported” resident. We would need to get an idea of your budget & what you can afford. At this stage if you haven’t already, you may need our Aged Care Financial Options service to help you find out how best to pay for aged care & understand exactly what you can afford.

We then set about researching the facilities to determine which aged care facilities suit your brief & your care needs, & whether they have a vacancy, & what their costs are to ensure it matches your budget. We deliver a shortlist of facilities that appear to be suitable.

Some people decide this is all they need & they take over from here & visit the facilities for themselves. Whereas other people still need more help in which case it moves onto stage 2.

Stage 2-Visiting the shortlist

Either you travel with us to visit the shortlist with you, or we can meet you there, introduce you to the facility manager (or whoever does the tours of the facility) to see if you like the facility or not & get a feel for the place that could be your new home.

This may involve visiting several facilities in a day, or a morning or afternoon. It depends on who attends, if it is the family, then they may have more stamina & are able to visit more facilities in one day, than if it was the elderly person themselves, who may have limited capability to spend more than a couple of hours at a time.

One of my clients (let’s call her Maggie) had no other family to help, & so I picked her up from her rehabilitation hospital on 4 separate mornings & we visited 2 facilities each morning in the geographic are that she wanted, but she was only able to cope with 2-2.5 hours at a time, & needed t go back to the rehabilitation hospital to recover from the trip. After visiting 8 different facilities, she decided on the one she wanted, & is still happy there today. My client had the mental capacity to make her own decisions, she simply needed help in making it happen.

Some people take it over from here & do not require any more, they are happy to finalise the deal with the aged care facility. However, some people (like Maggie) was not comfortable with the commercial arrangements & asked us to finalise the deal for her

Stage 3- Finalising the choice of facility

Once you have made the decision about the facility you want, & they have a vacancy, then it is time to do the required paperwork, & make it all happen. If you want help with this, then this is stage 3 of aged care placement.

This involves;

1. Ensuring the ACAT assessment has been done
2. Ensuring the Means Test form has been completed & sent (if required)
3. Negotiating the final cost, & confirming the right room is available
4. Completing the residential care agreement (contract) & making sure it is correct & accurate, attending to getting the contract signed.

The three stages of Aged Care placement can be provided individually, or any or all 3 stages can be done for you.

The Cost of each stage or all stages will be discussed at the outset & will be driven by the type & extent of the work required, e.g. whether you want us to take you to the facilities, how many you wish to visit & the time spent visiting.

However, once Aged Care Placement is done & dusted, some people still need more help, in making the move happen. We can project manage this for you e.g. the sorts of tasks that may be required are;

• Packing up your home
• Decluttering- arranging to auction, store, or take with you, various furniture & possessions, or arranging to give to charities items no longer required, or having those items you no longer want or need to take to the tip
• Getting the home repaired (e.g. painting, plumbing, tiling, plastering, gardening, roof repairs, carpet cleaned or replaced, electrical work) whatever needs to be done to the home to get it ready to sell or rent. We can arrange for you.
• Arranging for agents to quote for selling your home or for property managers to get new tenants & manage the property ongoing (for those who wish to keep their home).
• Arranging to sell other items e.g. vehicles, investments (which are required to be sold to pay the “RAD”
• Negotiating with other professionals (on your behalf) which you may have already engaged, e.g. solicitors, accountants, Centrelink, DVA or the Public Trustee or your own financial adviser, or real estate agent to attend to the commercial transactions necessary to facilitate the move into aged care.

The cost will be driven by the work required, & the time taken.

For some people moving into care, unless they have someone who can do this for them, it might not be possible for them to do it themselves. Once again most of these people can make their own decisions, but due to physical limitations or health conditions are just not able to attend to it, & just need someone they trust, who understands the complexities of this difficult time to be their legs & drive this move into aged care to completion for them.

If you think you may need this sort of help call us or email us & we will discuss your needs with you.