Silverchain welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement today that the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) will be retained as a vital part of Australia’s aged care system, with further reform to strengthen the program.
As the largest not-for-profit provider of in-home aged care, Silverchain advocated for CHSP to continue and for any future reform to deliver better outcomes for older people. Across Australia, Silverchain has more than 33,500 CHSP clients.
Silverchain’s Executive Director, Aged Care, Carolyn Bell said CHSP should remain a strong, distinct, and sustainably funded part of Australia’s aged care system.
“CHSP delivers positive outcomes for older Australians and improves their health and wellbeing. The task now is to ensure that, together with consumers and the Government, we make CHSP and Support at Home work seamlessly together to be more responsive to the needs of older people,” Ms Bell said.
“We can improve CHSP to build on the program’s existing strengths: early intervention, local responsiveness, simple access, social connection, reablement, community infrastructure and trusted relationships.
“We believe the program should remain focused on prevention, reablement, social connection, respite and lower-complexity support, while being strengthened through clearer service definitions, transparent reporting, stronger local planning and better integration with other parts of the health and aged care system.
"An improved CHSP must also recognise the realities of delivering care in rural, regional and other thin markets. This means sustainable funding that grows with demand, dedicated arrangements to maintain access where services would otherwise be unavailable, and clear pathways between CHSP and Support at Home.
“Older people should be able to move seamlessly to more intensive support when their needs become ongoing or complex, while preserving CHSP as an effective early-intervention program that helps prevent avoidable decline and reduces pressure on higher-cost care services.”
CHSP provides practical home and community support to older people through services such as nursing, allied health, meals, transport, personal care, domestic assistance, social connection, respite and community-based supports.
Read Silverchain’s recent submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into the Support at Home program, which outlines how CHSP could be retained, strengthened and improved.
