Incontinence in Australia: prevalence, experience and cost
This bulletin reports on the number of people who experienced severe incontinence in 2009, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers. It also presents information on prevalence rates and how much was spent on incontinence (excluding residential aged care costs) in 2008-09. There were an estimated 316,500 people suffering from severe incontinence in 2009, most of whom were female (66%). As well, 73% of primary carers who assisted in managing another person's incontinence spent at least 40 hours each week caring or supervising.
Older people leaving hospital: a statistical overview of the Transition Care Program 2009-10 and 2010-11
Older people leaving hospital: a statistical overview of the transition care program 2009-10 and 2010-11 presents key statistics about transition care services provided to older people directly after discharge from hospital. The Transition Care Program aims to improve recipients' independence and functioning, and has assisted nearly 52,000 people since it started in 2005-06, including 18,000 individuals who received just under 20,300 episodes of transition care in 2010-11. The report includes for the first time an analysis of trends since the program's establishment, and an examination of the final outcomes of people receiving consecutive episodes of care.
People with dementia in hospitals in New South Wales 2006-07
This report examines the experiences of the 252,700 people aged 50 and over who stayed for at least one night in a New South Wales public hospital in 2006-07. Slightly more than 8% of patients (20,800 people) were identified as having dementia. Even allowing for age and sex differences, people with dementia had much higher hospitalisation rates than those without dementia: 26% compared with 12%. They also tended to stay longer in hospital and were more likely to enter or return to residential care on discharge from hospital, or to die in hospital.
Deriving key patient variables: a technical paper for the Hospital Dementia Services Project
This report describes the methods used for the Hospital Dementia Services Project to derive dementia status, complete hospital stays and post-hospital destination using New South Wales hospital data for 2006-07. Comparisons of estimates using these key variables show that the method used to derive the variables can substantially affect analytical results on use of hospitals. This report demonstrates the importance of using analytical data and methods that match the particular policy or research question being asked.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification in community services data collections: an updated data quality report
This report examines the identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients in a number of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare community services data collections, by analysing where Indigenous status is missing/not stated. It makes a number of recommendations, including that data collection manuals and training materials reflect the National best practice guidelines for collecting Indigenous status in health data sets. Where necessary, jurisdictions should consider modifying client forms and client information management systems to ensure consistency with these guidelines.
Palliative care services in Australia
Palliative care services in Australia is the first in a planned series of annual reports providing a detailed picture of the national response to the palliative care needs of Australians. Details from a range of data sources for 2009-10, and where available 2010-11, are presented, as are changes over time. There were almost 56,000 palliative care separations reported in public and private hospitals in 2009-10. Almost $3 million in Medicare Benefits Schedule payments was paid for palliative medicine specialist services in 2010-11.
Dementia in Australia
In 2011, there were an estimated 298,000 people with dementia. This number is expected to increase markedly over time, with projections suggesting it will reach around 400,000 by 2020 and 900,000 by 2050. Dementia is a leading cause of death, accounting for 6% of all deaths in 2010. Total direct health and aged care services expenditure on people with dementia was at least $4.9 billion in 2009-10.
Aged care packages in the community 2010-11: a statistical overview
Aged care packages in the community 2010 -11 describes the key characteristics of services and recipients and also looks at the distribution of services relative to the needs of the population. At 30 June 2011, there were 50, 900 recipients of care packages. About 1,200 providers delivered low-care packages, 500 delivered high-care packages and 340 providers delivered high-care specialised dementia packages.
Residential aged care in Australia 2010-11: a statistical overview
Residential aged care in Australia 2010-11 provides comprehensive statistical information on residential aged care facilities, their residents, admissions and separations, and residents' dependency levels. At 30 June 2011, there were nearly 185,500 residential aged care places, an increase of more than 2,600 places compared with 30 June 2010. More than 85,200 permanent residents (52%) had a recorded diagnosis of dementia at 30 June 2011. Other recorded health conditions included circulatory diseases (40,000 residents) and diseases of the musculoskeletal and connective tissue (29,400 residents).
Younger people with disability in residential aged care: 2010-11
This bulletin presents data on the Younger People with Disability in Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) initiative, which aims to reduce the number of people with disability aged under 65 who live in residential aged care. Between 2005-06 and 2010-11, an estimated 1,432 people have been helped, including 250 who have been moved out of residential aged care and into accommodation that better suits their situation, 244 who were successfully diverted away from entering residential aged care, and 456 who were provided with enhanced services while in residential aged care.
The Hospital Dementia Services Project: a study description
The Hospital Dementia Services Project is an innovative mixed-methods study funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council to investigate how health and aged care system factors influence care outcomes for hospital patients with dementia. People with dementia have comparatively high rates of hospitalisation and longer hospital stays which has an impact on their physical and mental wellbeing. The project focuses on patients aged 50 or over who had an overnight stay in a public hospital in New South Wales during 2006-07. This publication describes the project's objectives and design features.
Identifying palliative care separations in admitted patient data: technical paper
This technical paper explores the most appropriate method of identifying those separations that occurred in Australian hospitals for which palliative care was a substantial component of the care provided. Coding and collection rules are considered, as well as national admitted patient data for 1999-00 to 2008-09.
Pathways in aged care: do people follow recommendations?
Eligibility for key aged care programs is assessed by Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACATs). These teams also make recommendations on the preferred long-term setting for receiving care; that is, in the person's home or in a residential care facility. Analysis shows that there was considerable variation in care pathways within recommendation group. Rates of transition into permanent residential care varied with the use of community care and residential respite care. One-quarter of ACAT clients-including some recommended to live in residential care-did not use aged care services in the 2 years after their first assessment.
Aged care packages in the community 2009-10: a statistical overview
This report describes the key characteristics of services and recipients and also looks at the distribution of services relative to the needs of the population. At 30 June 2010 there were around 47,700 recipients of care packages. Around 1,150 providers delivered low-care packages, 370 providers delivered high-care packages and 240 providers delivered high-care specialised dementia packages.
Residential aged care in Australia 2009-10: a statistical overview
Residential aged care in Australia 2009-10 provides comprehensive statistical information on residential aged care facilities, their residents, admissions and separations, and residents' dependency levels.At 30 June 2010, there were nearly 183,000 residential aged care places, an increase of almost 3% compared with 30 June 2009.Over 83,500 permanent residents (52%) had a recorded diagnosis of dementia at 30 June 2010. Other recorded health conditions included circulatory diseases (40,000 residents) and diseases of the musculoskeletal and connective tissue (27,500 residents).
Older people leaving hospital: a statistical overview of the Transition Care Program in 2008-09
Older people leaving hospital: a statistical overview of the Transition Care Program in 2008-09 presents key statistics on the characteristics and services provided to older people who are eligible for residential aged care directly after discharge from hospital. The program aims to improve recipients' independence and functioning.At 30 June 2009 there were 2,228 places providing transitional care to older people leaving hospital. During 2008-09, around 12,600 individuals received just over 14,000 episodes of transition care.
Dementia among aged care residents: first information from the Aged Care Funding Instrument
The Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) is a new tool to appraise the care needs of permanent residents in residential aged care facilities. The ACFI appraisal was used to identify more than 104,400 permanent residents in 2008-09 who had a diagnosis of dementia. This equates to 53% of all residents with an ACFI appraisal in this financial year. Seventy per cent of residents with a dementia diagnosis were female reflecting their overall proportion in residential care. Approximately 79% of all residents with dementia were aged 70 years and over.
A snapshot of osteoporosis in Australia 2011
This snapshot brings together the latest data on osteoporosis in Australia. The purpose of the snapshot is to provide the latest statistical information in a timely and efficient manner.
Pathways in Aged Care: program use after assessment
Analysis of care pathways provides information that is useful to both policy planners and service providers alike. The Pathways in Aged Care (PIAC) cohort study linked aged care assessment data for a cohort of 105,100 people to data sets showing use of five main aged care programs and deaths over 4 years. This report presents an overview of the PIAC cohort, investigating care needs, assessment patterns, common care pathways, time to entry to permanent residential aged care and time to death after assessment for use of aged care services.
Aged care packages in the community 2008-09: a statistical overview
At 30 June 2009, over 44,000 people were receiving help from a community aged care package, including just over 23,300 new admissions during 2008-09. The findings suggest that proportionate to their populations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and those from non-English-speaking countries used community aged care packages at a higher rate compared with other Australians.
Residential aged care in Australia 2008-09: a statistical overview
Residential aged care in Australia 2008-09: a statistical overview provides comprehensive statistical information on residential aged care facilities and services, their residents, admissions and separations, and residents' dependency levels. At 30 June 2009, there were over 178,000 residential aged care places, an increase of 1.6% compared with 30 June 2008. Almost 82,000 permanent residents (59%) had a recorded diagnosis of dementia at 30 June 2009. Other recorded health conditions affecting residents included circulatory diseases (42,000 residents) and diseases of the musculoskeletal and connective tissue (26,800 residents).
Dementia and the take-up of residential respite care: an analysis using the PIAC cohort
In the current policy and service environment, respite care is a key service designed to provide support for carers and those they care for. Linked aged care program data for the Pathways in Aged Care (PIAC) cohort study allows analysis of the take-up of residential respite care by looking at 32,000 cohort members who had an approval of such care. This report presents detailed analysis of take-up rates and factors that affect the take-up of residential care. In particular the report investigates whether dementia, carer availability and English speaking background affect the take-up of residential care.
Dementia and the take-up of residential respite care
In the current policy and service environment respite care is a key service designed to provide support for carers and those they care for. Linked aged care program data for the Pathways in Aged Care (PIAC) cohort study allows analysis of the take-up of residential respite care by looking at 32,000 cohort members who had an approval of such care. This bulletin presents take-up rates and factors that affect the take-up of residential respite care. In particular, the bulletin investigates whether dementia, carer availability and English speaking background affect the take-up of residential respite care.
Pathways through aged care services: a first look
Analysis of care pathways provides information that is useful to both policy planners and service providers alike. The Pathways in Aged Care (PIAC) cohort study linked aged care assessment data for a cohort of 105,100 people to data sets showing use of five main aged care programs and deaths over four years. Of particular interest in terms of care pathways is the smaller new-pathways cohort of 77,400 people who had not previously used aged care services that required and aged care assessment for access. This report presents the first findings from analysis of the new pathways cohort, investigating common care pathways, time to entry to permanent residential aged care and time to death after the first assessment for use of aged care services.
Aged care packages in the community 2007-08: a statistical overview
Aged care packages in the community 2007-08: a statistical overview provides information on the provision of three types of Australian Government funded aged care packages: Community Aged Care Packages, Extended Aged Care at Home packages, and Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia packages. These packages assist people who are eligible for residential aged care to remain in the community in their own homes. This report provides information on the availability of packages in Australia, the characteristics of outlets providing these packages, the care recipients at 30 June 2008 and the people who started or ceased receiving help during the year. At 30 June 2008 over 42,000 people were receiving help from an aged care package, and nearly 62,000 people had received help at some time during 2007-08.