Guide to short term restorative care

Short-term restorative care aims to address challenges individuals face in their daily activities, offering support to reverse or alleviate these difficulties. A multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals collaborates to assist individuals in managing or adapting to their evolving needs. Essentially there are three levels, and all are designed to get you back to independence.

1. Entry-level support at home, includes ongoing or short-term care and support services through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme including help with personal care, meal and food preparation, transport, shopping, allied, health, social support and planned respite (giving your carer a break)
2. More complex support at home, includes four levels of consumer directed coordinated packages of services through the Home Care Packages Program including personal care, support services and nursing, allied health and clinical services.
3. Residential aged care includes personal and nursing care in aged care homes for older people unable to live independently in their own homes.

What are the benefits and purpose of restorative care?

Short term restorative care aims to help older people by preventing or reducing any problems with completing daily tasks, improving their health and wellbeing and thereby avoiding long-term or higher levels of care. Short-Term Restorative Care is a government-funded program that supports you for up to eight weeks (56 days) with a variety of services to improve your wellbeing. The goal is to help you to become independent in your home or in an aged care home, by improving your ability to complete everyday tasks.

Who is eligible for short term restorative care?

You may be eligible for short term restorative care if you are an older person who wants to stay independent, out of long-term ongoing care, but:

• You need help with everyday tasks
• You are slowing down mentally, or physically, or both for example:
• You have trouble holding or gripping objects
• You are doing less, either physically or mentally
• You have increased levels of exhaustion
• You have experienced unintended weight loss.

How do I get access to short term restorative care?

Depending on your care needs, there is a number of places in which services can be provided, such as your home, in your community, or in an aged care home. It can also be a combination of these. Within a 12month period you are able to access care on 2 separate occasions and for up to 8 weeks (or 56 days).

Further information on respite care, long term care, dementia care and our homes can be found here.