“Of people aged 80 and over, almost 20 per cent of Australians were living in institutions compared to 14.6 per cent in New Zealand, 7.4 per cent in Japan and just 6.1 per cent in the US.”
Many eastern countries, such as China, practice “filial piety”, an ancient Confucian tradition that prioritises the family unit above all else and honours the elderly more as they age.
Proving even Confucius is no match for greed, the rise of capitalist industrialisation and low pay is impacting heavily on the care of their elderly, too.
The Week noted: “China’s rapid industrialisation has forced people to flock to urban areas for work, causing many adult children to move farther away from their parents, who often remain in rural areas and are unfit to pick up and move.”
Normally the prime minister and the treasurer would also venture out with a media posse and the cameras on Wednesday or Thursday to ensure beneficiaries of various budget measures were smiling in the television packages of budget week. But that didn’t happen either.
Perhaps this reflects exhaustion from the ceaseless grind of the last 12 months, politicians being humans. (Controversial, I know.) Perhaps heading to a local aged care facility felt fraught in Covid times, when the vaccination program is running behind schedule.
But budget week is normally the most hectic week of the political year, and after Tuesday, the tempo lapsed into listlessness. From my vantage point, this was all pretty interesting, like a punch had been thrown, and then pulled.
How extra dollars could improve life in aged care
Residents need to be more assertive with providers to make sure they actually benefit from budget changes.
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There are two key factors that can make a considerable difference to how residents feel about living in an aged care home: food and staff.
By mandating the amount of time staff spend with residents each day and increasing the basic daily fee by $10 a day for each resident, the funding initiatives outlined in the federal budget could actually make a difference to some people’s lives.
The $17.7 billion commitment to aged care reform responds to 126 of the 148 recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.