A report released today by the Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare shows that in 2008-09, a total of 817 people received
services funded by the Younger People with Disability in
Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) program.
The YPIRAC program aims to reduce the number of people with
disability under the age of 65 who live in residential aged
care.
The report, Younger People with Disability in Residential Aged
Care Program: Report on the 2008-09 Minimum Data Set, shows a 41%
increase in the number of people receiving YPIRAC program
assistance in 2007-08.
It also shows that three-quarters of service users were under 50
years of age, the initial priority group for the program.
'Over the first three years of the program, over 90 people moved
out of residential aged care to more age-appropriate supported
disability accommodation,' said Anne Aisbett of the AIHW's
Functioning and Disability Unit.
'In the same period, more than 300 people were provided with
enhanced services within a residential aged care setting and almost
150 were diverted from inappropriate admission to residential aged
care,' she said.
In 2008-09, nearly half of all service users had a primary
disability relating to acquired brain injury, and another 29% had a
neurological primary disability.
Almost two-thirds of YPIRAC service users in 2008-09 lived in
residential aged care and of these, nearly 2 in 5 reported that
their main reason for living there was because appropriate
alternative accommodation was not available.
About one-third of service users were to remain in residential
aged care, but with additional support services.
In 2008-09, of all 817 YPIRAC service users, 234 were offered
alternative accommodation. Of these, 75 people in residential aged
care and 49 people at risk of entering residential aged care moved
to alternative accommodation, such as private residences,
domestic-scale supported living facilities and supported
accommodation.
Thursday 27 May 2010
Further information: Ms Anne Aisbett, AIHW,
tel. (02) 6244 1208, mob. 0418 271 395
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. (02) 6244 1032.
Younger People with Disability in Residential Aged Care
Program Report on the 2008-09 Minimum Data Set
(Report summary) (Full
report)