Another boost to dementia-care funding is likely to be
"trumpeted" by the Government in Thursday's Budget, New
Zealand Aged Care Association chief executive Martin Taylor
says.
A funding boost for dementia is insufficient to deal with a
"staggering" wave of cases the aged care sector will face,
Otago-Southland Aged Care Association board member Malcolm
Hendry says.
"Food illiteracy" among rest-home workers means many have
scant idea how to feed elderly residents, and the sector
needs to step up with extra resources for training, says the
academic supervisor of a University of Otago rest-home
nutrition study highlighting problems.
The Minister of Health was asked in Parliament last week how
the Government ensures all taxpayer funding for aged care is
spent on the provision of care for subsidised aged-care
residents, and not for other purposes.
A survey revealing an urgent need to plan for a huge increase
in demand for residential care for the elderly confirms what
many in the sector feared, says Otago-Southland Aged Care
Association board member Malcolm Hendry.
A review of the state of aged care in New Zealand being
undertaken by Grey Power and opposition parties gets under
way with a series of 19 nation-wide meetings starting next
week.
The Otago and Southland District Health Boards should
continue to rely on the market to decide on the number of
aged-care residential beds rather than turn away any new
providers, the boards' general manager of planning and
funding, David Chrisp, says.
