The WA government is piloting a partnership with Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) to provide post-hospital home care for older Indigenous Australians as part of the Transitional Care Program.
It’s hoped that partnering with AMSs will deliver more culturally appropriate services for Aboriginal people aged 50 years and over and extend the reach of the service in regional areas.
The South West Aboriginal Medical Service will deliver the first of five partnerships in Bunbury.
Broome and Geraldton Aboriginal Medical Services will also welcome clients in the coming months and two more AMSs are expected to sign up to the pilot program, with services to begin later this year.
The Transitional Care Program (TCP), jointly funded by the federal and state governments, provides care to older people for up to 12 weeks after hospital discharge, including social work, nursing support, personal care and allied health care.
It’s designed to ensure that people who no longer need hospital care have the supports in place to safely return to the community and make hospital beds available to patients with acute care needs.
First in Australia
Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson says the pilots will be evaluated and contribute to a national evidence base for improving services for the Indigenous population.
“This WA initiative is the first of its kind in Australia and will attract more Aboriginal people to the Transitional Care Program by offering more culturally secure services closer to, or within their home community,” she said in a statement.
“This is an excellent opportunity for the AMSs to expand the types of community services they deliver so they can better support Aboriginal people in their areas.”
The pilots each have an initial $1.8 million state investment, of which up to $1.26 million could be subsidised by the Commonwealth over the term of each pilot. The federal government has also contributed a further $1 million towards an evaluation and small capacity building grants for providers.
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Due to the fact that patient need to be assessed for an ACAT whilst they are an inpatient has not made the process easy for Indigenous patient – they are eager to return home to their families – and stakeholders who run TCP miss out on patient to be signed up. If the assessments for an ACAT can happen during the persons hospital stay ASAP.