Aged care crisis - a call for kindness and justice

Here, the system simply is not progressive enough. There needs to be a more graduated and progressive regime of fees and taxes.

Wealth and inheritance taxes - levied on individuals with assets of over $1 million - could help ensure that residents receive the care they need: while only being charged as much as they can reasonably afford. No longer would ordinary residents of ordinary means need fear being forced to sell the family home.

Are our elderly “a nuisance” for the health care system?

In the instance that elderly citizens do need care in hospitals, their rights and dignity needs be respected. They should not be shunned as “a nuisance”. I speak of a personal experience here, where a loved one was tied to her bed and drugged so as to keep her asleep. This was after a serious heart attack. Before her family had been contacted, the hospital authorities were already planning on moving her to a “high care” nursing home. And moves were made - also without consultation - to put down her pet cat.

With family support, this person was later to spend several quality years in a low intensity care hostel, and made a partial recovery after rehabilitation. The beloved pet was rescued also.

But without determined intervention by her family, this person’s future would have been very grim indeed.

Quality of life for the frail and the aged: dentistry

There are many other issues pertaining to “quality of life” for pensioners, including the frail and vulnerable. To begin: nursing homes rarely provide sufficient dental care. According to Doctor Clive Rogers, “nursing homes are passing accreditation tests even when their residents' mouths and teeth are so ravaged they risk serious illness or premature death”. Many such residents “[have] pus draining into their mouth [and] abscesses.”

Free dental care ought to be a priority for all Australians. But in the case of the most vulnerable Australians, our duty of care is even more plain. Dentists should be regularly commissioned to visit nursing homes and hostels: and should be “on call” for whenever the need for their services arises.

Quality of life: other elements

Beyond these essential concerns, there are other elements that would best be implemented to ensure quality of life for vulnerable and elderly Australians.

Residents should enjoy privacy with their own room - and to whatever extent possible - be in familiar surrounds.

Access to the “simple pleasures” of parks, gardens could potentially provide a significant improvement to residents’ quality of life.

Food must be of the highest quality available. And there must be sufficient attention from staff to ensure residents finish their meals, and do not waste away. Malnutrition and dehydration are disturbingly common. Inadequate staffing levels directly contribute to this problem.

Opportunity for recreation, where possible, is also important. Television, music and radio should be provided - including in residents private rooms. And into the future - where residents are increasingly technologically literate - there should be access to internet services as well.