Dementia training urged for aged care

DEMAND for aged care places will explode over the next decade and require a tripling of the workforce by 2050, the aged care royal commission has been told.

At the same time, funding uncertainty has caused some residential care providers to put development plans on hold.

Recent data shows 83,500 extra places will be needed over the next 10 years.

The growth compares to an increase of only 33,000 places over the past 10 years.

“That is a significant uplift in activity and building requirement,” Leading Age Services Australia chief executive Sean Rooney told the inquiry yesterday.

However, Mr Rooney said a survey of its service provider members in 2018 revealed significant cost pressures.

“We found evidence to suggest that instability and insecurity with regard to funding certainty was causing providers to put on hold plans,” he said.

The commission also heard of the need for aged care workers to have more training to better care for people with dementia.

Dementia Australia chief executive Maree McCabe said 50 per cent of those in residential care had a diagnosis of dementia and even more remained undiagnosed.

But Ms McCabe said of the 240,000 aged care workers across the country, 70 per cent were personal carers whose training did not provide any education around dementia.

“One of the key things about education is about developing empathy,” she said.

Ms McCabe said Dementia Australia ran an immersive experience that simulated what it was like for people to have dementia.

“Our theory was that if we can simulate that it will change people’s attitude, it would change their behaviour and it would then change the practice and care that was implemented,” she said.