Mailbox Response

The question was submitted 26/09/2007

Subject: Level of Care for Dementia patients

I was wanting to find a good website that would explain the different levels of care required that would necessitate a patient being moved from a specialised dementia ward to a nursing home. Is it different in each state? I am particularly interested in Victoria.

Answer from DementiaNet

Thank you for your question,
Assessment of "level of care" is done by Aged Care teams who are federally funded. An assessment in one state is valid throughout Australia. Basically they will be asking what do the carers have to do for the patient. What are their specific needs be they physical, emotional, psychological or behavioural. They then decide which facility would be best able to care for the individual patient.

The Australian Government Department of Health and Aging has a website which provides contact details for ACAT in each state. Or to get contact details for your local ACAT, call a Commonwealth Carelink Centre on 1800 052 222.

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/Publishing.nsf/Content/ageing-acat-assess.htm

The answer was published on DementiaNet 03/10/2007