A Home Care Package, when allocated, must have at least one care manager to administer the way your Home Care Package funds are spent.
There are fully managed plans (managed by someone other than yourself) and self-managed plans (managed by you, or if you prefer, a family member or friend you trust).
Homemade provides the opportunity to self-manage your home care package, putting you in control of your plan and choice of providers. For instance, as a customer with HomeMade, you get to choose your support worker/s, the services you receive and when you receive them, and you also get to negotiate the hourly rate.
1.Why self-manage your home care package
Before the policy of Consumer Directed Care was fully introduced in 2017, having a home care package meant you had to stick with your current aged care provider with sometimes limited choices.
This meant accepting their staff and available support options, according to their rosters.
With Consumer Directed Care, from February 2017 onwards, home care package funding was allocated to the person rather than the aged care provider.
This meant recipients could exercise ‘self-management’ of their package, such as choosing their own service providers and health professionals, potentially saving on administration fees, and deciding who would support them, when, and at what rates. The aged care recipient became central in the planning of their own care.
Self-managing your Home Care Package is not just about ‘hours of care’. As everyone’s situation is different, self-management means you won’t get a generic one-size-fits-all solution when you partner with HomeMade.
We keep up with the latest technology solutions, people solutions and support options for people who have a range of health and medical conditions. We’ll help you think outside the box to use your home care funds creatively and efficiently.
2. What exactly is consumer-directed care?
Consumer-directed care represents a new approach to care provision, one that empowers individuals with increased choices and flexibility.
Under this model, those receiving home care package funding gain more autonomy over their care and service arrangements, including how services are administered and who administers them.
In 2012, the Federal Government recognised the importance of granting individuals receiving home care services greater control over their care as part of its Living Longer Living Better reforms for aged care.
Subsequently, beginning in February 2017, consumer-directed care underwent further enhancements, with funding for home care packages now being directly allocated to the recipients themselves.
Home care packages are also now portable, enabling recipients to switch service providers if desired and even take their package with them should they relocate.
This transformative approach empowers individuals to have a more active role in shaping their care and services, promoting greater choice and flexibility in the care they receive.
3. How to self-manage your home care package
Homemade has been playing a leading role in supporting consumers’ rights to self-manage their home care package for several years. We are leading the change by providing innovative solutions to home care recipients and their representatives with an alternate solution to traditional home care.
Self-managing means you and/ or your representative schedule independent support workers or service providers in your area yourself. In essence, you find a someone you like, agree on an hourly rate, the services they provide and the days and times they will provide support.
Self-managing your package, means you can reduce your fees and put more funding towards supports and services.
4. Engaging Services and Support
Home Care package funding can be used for services and supports as long as they meet Government guidelines and are part of a recipient’s support plan.
The Government is happy to subsidise your services and support as long as they can see a link between your care needs and the types of solutions you create in your support plan.
Before receiving your Home Care Package is a great time to do some research and create a shortlist of support workers or providers that you may like to engage.
Some of the things to consider:
- Is there a specific language you would like them to be fluent in?
- How close are they to your home? (consider any travel costs)
- Are they available at times that suit you?
- Do their fees or hourly rate fit your budget ?
- Do you have shared interests or hobbies?
For a job or task to be completed well it is best done by a worker happy to do it and with the appropriate skills. For example, if you want your bathrooms cleaned, you would hire a cleaner. If you’re after support to go and do a bit of shopping, consider finding a support worker who is your social peer and speaks your language.
5. How to Find Services and Support
There are a several options you can use to help source service providers or support workers.
Option 1: Joining HomeMade means you have instant access to our existing network of over 1,200 Service providers Australia-wide. You can search online via the HomeMade platform to find a service provider to meet your needs.
We have existing relationships with organisations such as:
- Cabcharge
- UrbanYou
- Empower Healthcare
- Nurse Next Door
- Jim’s Mowing
- Lite n Easy
- Meals on Wheels
Option 2: Using platforms such as Mable you can source support workers close to where you live and who suit your needs.
Using Mable you engage directly with workers to see if they are a good fit for you.
Visit the Mable website to search for support workers in your area and to learn more about how you can engage your own support.
Option 3: You can also onboard your preferred Service Providers with Homemade (providing they meet our compliance requirements) – this means if you already have an organisation you use, you may be able to continue using them under the self-management model of care.
6. The Benefits of Self-Management:
Our customers enjoy more support hours than customers of traditional home care providers.
We offer better value than traditional home care providers in three main ways.
- Lower fees: which frees up more funds to pay for support workers and services. This means you have more dollars to spend at the same home care package level.
- Better Value: Self-management enables you to hire your own support workers, purchase aids and engage services at “market rates”, which are usually less than the rates charged by traditional home care providers. This means you receive more assistance per dollar spent.
- Customised Care: You’ll receive more appropriate care and support because it is you, the care recipient or representative, who directs the support worker and service provider as to what your needs are and avoids wasting support hours on unnecessary tasks.
Want to find out more? Feel free to contact us today.
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