In short, My Aged Care is the gateway to Commonwealth subsidised services and support for the elderly living in Australia.
Essentially, these subsidised services and support means that the government will pay a contribution towards the care or the support that you need.
This will allow you to continue living independently in your own home, or perhaps if you are thinking of entering an aged care facility, allow you to move into this facility and have some of the costs covered by the government.
To be considered for these subsidised services and support, you or a family member will need to make contact with My Aged Care which involves either making a referral online via their website or calling them.
The good news is that it’s free to contact My Aged Care and the referrals and assessments that follow on from your first interaction with them is also free.
Additionally, as a Bayswater aged care provider, we’re able to assist you with this process if it seems a little tricky to navigate.
To be eligible for this support and these services, you need to be 65 years or older. If you are an indigenous Australian, the minimum age is 50 years or older.
You need to demonstrate a need for support and services
This could be anything from needing someone to drive you to appointments because you’re unable to drive or you need someone to run errands for you.
This could be your son or daughter cooking meals for you and dropping them because you’re unable to cook for yourself anymore.
This could also involve someone coming to your house each week to clean because you can’t do it yourself.
Typically, most older people who are already being supported by their family, friends or neighbours will also be able to demonstrate a need for services and support from My Aged Care.
What to know before you contact My Aged Care
Whether it’s by phone or an online referral, either for yourself or an older loved one, there are some things you ought to know that is necessary.
Being adequately prepared for what you can expect will almost certainly result in a better outcome for the initial process and subsequent assessments.
The screening process for My Aged Care isn’t an in-depth one, therefore it can fail to capture what is actually going on in an older person’s home.
The online screening process will ask you to answer a series of questions relating to what you can and cannot do.
Talking to My Aged Care is a similar process with the call centre asking you a number of questions that will determine how much support you are currently receiving from others or how much support you may benefit from receiving.
If you would like to find out more about how our Bayswater aged care home care packages can support you, please click here to leave an enquiry or call us on (03) 8720 1338.