Overview of Lotus Compassionate Aged Care Facility and the Australian healthcare system

The present paper is based on the case study of Abraham Chatzkel who is a client at the Lotus Compassionate Aged Care Facility. The paper provides a brief description of where the facility sits within the Australian healthcare system. It further accounts of how economic and political ideology of the Australian healthcare system facilitates Abraham’s residence and care at the facility. Description of how community inclusion and participation might play an important role in the care process is provided. Lastly, the ways in which the client might be offered care to empower him and promote his independence are mentioned.

The Lotus compassionate aged care facility is aligned with the segment of the Australian healthcare system that lays the provision for aged care systems offering a range of options for meeting the diverse care needs of each individual. The desire and preference of many older Australians to remain in their own homes through the later stages of life has led to the augmented focus on the provision of aged care services in many community settings. The provision of aged care facility in the country encompasses a wide range of support and services to enhance quality of living of individuals in a safe environment (Croft & Croft, 2018).

The political and economic ideology of the Australian healthcare system of the country facilitates Abraham’s residence and care at the facility. Support and services for aged individuals in Australia are supported by a number of government programs along with support from the voluntary sectors. The ideology of the healthcare system is to provide adequate support to those who are disabled and frail. In the past few years, policy changes in the country have given increased attention on early interventions provided to the aged combined with ‘ageing in place’. This implies that the key motive is to keep older population out of residential facilities for as long as possible. Cost-effectiveness of this notion is to be mentioned in this regard. The approach is cost effective from the government point of view (Duckett & Willcox, 2015).

Community inclusion and participation would play an important role in the care of Abraham at the facility. Group activities carried out at the facility would ensure social connectivity for Abraham. Activities such as music, singing, outings and puzzle solving would help in establishing social bonds. The underlying principle would be likelihood of increased social communication through tasks. The social nature of the activities along with the need of gaining control over perceptions would enhance social interactions. The aim would be to enhance the self esteem of the population together with the emotional well being. The activities would enable an opportunity to perceive pleasure and enjoyment (Harvey & Kitson, 2015). It is crucial that individuals from different backgrounds are to be included in groups for fostering cross-cultural communication. Meaningful personal relationships lead to happiness, and individuals grow a sense of control, all of which are related to better quality of life, positive energy and emotional well-being (Wegleitner et al., 2015). Being sensitive to the cultural background of the client is necessary for ensuring a safe environment within which care can be delivered.

Abraham is to be offered care for empowering him and promoting his independence. The objective would be to empower the client to have maximal control over life. This can be achieved through enabling Abraham to be involved in the decisions taken regarding his care. a positive view is to be taken to make the client realize that he holds immense potential to achieve better health outcomes (Walker & Paliadelis, 2016). In relation to promotion of independent living skills it is to be mentioned that the client is to be given ‘just enough support’ for promoting his ability to carry out activities by them as far as possible. Support is to be given for maximizing the self-care skills and coping abilities.  Abraham is to be supported to exercise choice, and if he is deemed to be able to make own decisions then the right is to be upheld by the care giver. A focused approach to risk-taking would be crucial for maintaining the balance between personal autonomy of the client and optimal quality care delivery. Unnecessary deteriorations in the ability of the client to live in an independent manner are to be avoided at all costs (Temple et al., 2017).

In conclusion, the Lotus compassionate aged care facility is a part of the Australian healthcare system that looks into aged care system for those in need. The political and economic ideology of the Australian healthcare system of the country influences Abraham’s care process at the facility. Community inclusion and participation is to be fostered at the facility through various culture sensitive activities. The client is to be empowered through ‘just as needed’ support and counseling to promote his independence at the facility.

References

Croft, H., & Croft, S. (2018). The Australian Carer: A Training Manual for Aged Care Workers. Cengage AU.

Duckett, S., & Willcox, S. (2015). The Australian health care system (No. Ed. 5). Oxford University Press.

Harvey, G., & Kitson, A. (2015). Implementing evidence-based practice in healthcare: a facilitation guide. Routledge.

Temple, J. B., Jukic, M., & Dow, B. (2017). Informal care relationships and residential aged care recommendations: evidence from administrative data. BMC geriatrics, 17(1), 289.

Walker, H., & Paliadelis, P. (2016). Older peoples’ experiences of living in a residential aged care facility in Australia. Australasian journal on ageing, 35(3).

Wegleitner, K., Heimerl, K., & Kellehear, A. (Eds.). (2015). Compassionate communities: case studies from Britain and Europe. Routledge.