NDIS Won’t Solve Young People in Nursing Homes - Report
1 October 2013 at 10:20 am
The issue of young people with disabilities living in nursing homes will not be resolved despite the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, according to a report by the Summer Foundation and global professional services company, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The report, NDIS Launch Sites: Projection of Number of Young People in Residential Aged Care estimates that although the NDIS will have been operational in the NDIS launch sites for three years, there will be an additional 40 young people living in nursing homes in these launch sites by June 2016.
However, it reveals that the NDIS, which is expected to be implemented across Australia in 2018-2019, will be unable to fully resolve the issue of young people in residential aged care in the short term.
The Report says that without a large injection of funding and a building plan and program, few people will be likely to move out of residential aged care because they need somewhere to live.
Research by the Summer Foundation and Monash University had found that 53 per cent of young people in residential aged care received a visit from a friend less than once a year and 33 per cent never had the opportunity to participate in community-based activities such as shopping, leisure activities, or visiting family and friends.
“Once the NDIS is fully operational, the problem will become the dearth of accessible and affordable housing,” Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes wrote in the report’s foreword.
“The community housing sector needs to get ready to meet the needs of young people in aged care nursing homes, and the tens of thousands of other people with disability who will have funding for support, but no housing to live in.”
Report co-author and Summer Foundation CEO Di Winkler said the situation was dire.
“The NDIS is a crucial part of the solution to the issue of young people in nursing homes and will provide the funding for disability supports that this group needs to live in the community,” Dr Winkler said.
“However, we anticipate that very few young people will move out of nursing homes in the launch sites because there is no where to move to.
“There is a desperate need for more affordable and accessible housing options for people with disability. Housing for people with disability is still the responsibility of public and community housing.”
The report also revealed that services were needed to create pathways back to the community for people with severe acquired brain injury sitting in acute hospitals, such as slow stream rehabilitation services.
