Plan to keep older people close to family in search of funding

Kilkivan seniors lead charge on creating better model of aged care In short: The Kilkivan and District Community Care Association is fighting to build a pilot program to keep seniors home longer. The region's seniors believe the project will solve aged care issues for rural and remote Australia. What's next? The association has begun lobbying all levels of government for funding toward the project. They might be softly spoken but this group of nonagenarians is very vocal on aged care. "I would hate to leave," says John Devereux, who is celebrating his 90th birthday at Kilkivan, about 220 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. Alongside the festivities within the town's small church hall, he and other seniors are busy building a groundswell of support for a better model of aged care in Australia. Mr Devereux and his wife Mary moved to Kilkivan 43 years ago and still live on 16 hectares, with no plans to leave any time soon. "We would lose all our contacts, lose our family, lose everything we know and have loved for the last 40 years,"he said. "The community is very, very friendly. It's just a nice place to live." It is that strong sense of community that underpins the Kilkivan and District Community Care Association Incorporated (KDCCAI). KDCCAI president Rosie Fitzgerald started the community hub with in-home care and a transport service, but now wants to build interim accommodation for seniors transitioning from large properties who were not quite ready for an aged care facility. After investigating options for aging property owners, she found there were "two extremes available". "Live independently at home, often on your own, and try to manage on the limited support hours available. "But the other extreme is, go out of the district to an aged care facility elsewhere, as we know these days that can be a long, long way from all your connections." The plan, she said, was to build a five-bedroom, five-bathroom home on vacant land designated for aged care by Gympie Regional Council, adjacent to the community hub. Rooms would be a rented she said, "to make it more flexible". "So what has come out of this community is a grassroots concept … just to allow them to stay longer in their home territory. "I think the elements are here in place just waiting for a pilot study that will show we can save government a lot of money." Eyes on Kilkivan Her campaign has drawn the attention of National Seniors Association founder Everald Compton who, at 94 years of age, travelled from Brisbane to commend her work. "Rosie has started a model which I believe can be repeated all over Australia in communities the size of Kilkivan," he said. "Most towns have old people who lived there all their life and when they get aged and decrepit, they've got to go to a bigger town and leave home. "Every little town that I've spoken to in my travels, say 'it would be great to have a little home in our town'." Neurocognition lead at University of Sunshine Coast's Healthy Brain Ageing Research Program, associate professor Sophie Andrews has also followed the work at KDCCAI and said aging in place was optimal from a social, health and an economic perspective. "We're still understanding how the connection to place is related, but we know that when people move from their homes into aged care or away from their local context, they often do decline more quickly than those who are able to stay in their home environment," she said. Where's the money? Ms Fitzgerald has begun lobbying all levels of government for funding toward the project, the cost of which has not been determined. A spokesperson for federal minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler said grants up to $300 million were available for eligible providers, but that ruled out independent living projects, such as the Kilkivan proposal, which fell under state government's purview. A spokesperson for state Seniors Minister Amanda Camm declined to comment other than to say there was no funding for the project. State member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said $84,000 awarded to KDCCAI through the Gambling Community Benefit Fund was a well-deserved recognition of their work, but did not comment on future funding. Ms Fitzgerald said the $84,000 would go toward better disability access at the community hub. The separate portfolios of aging, housing and health care across all levels of government has been a source of frustration for Ms Fitzgerald. "The three topics are very interconnected, you can't silo them and say, 'I'm not the minister for housing so I can't deal with this'. "We need a more adaptable, innovative approach to funding," she said. Nursing our purses However, Aged and Disability Advocacy chief executive Geoff Rowe said better allocation of funds was needed, not more money. Mr Rowe said Australia's average length of stay in a nursing home was amongst the longest in the OECD, showing a heavy reliance on a system designed for end-of-life care. "Research suggests we don't need more investment in aged care services, we need to spend the money differently," he said. "We need to be listening to what older people are saying and also looking at the different solutions." Mr Rowe said the generation coming into aged care was far more vocal than their war-time predecessors. "I think change will occur and they will come about by people demanding that they don't want to do it alone, or they don't want the service offerings that are there." Aging loudly Back at Mr Devereux's 90th birthday celebrations, Ms Fitzgerald is confident the plan is a viable option for quality aged care. "The table of 90-year-olds out there? They have lived their entire lives in this community, so it's cruel to expect them in their most vulnerable years to relocate suddenly simply because the infrastructure isn't here. "We're saying bring the infrastructure to where these seniors are." Ms Fitzgerald will pitch grant proposals with the support of Queensland nonagenarians, including Mr Compton. "I'm going with Rosie to say this is a role model project that you should push all around Australia," Mr Compton said. "We're starting the movement here today, we'll make them listen."