Aged-care facilities ‘hell’ for younger residents

Residential aged care was simply the wrong place for Catherine Roche’s husband after he suffered a stroke in his ­fifties.

Six-thousand young Australians access residential aged-care facilities.

Residential aged care was simply the wrong place for Catherine Roche’s husband Michael to be after he suffered a stroke in his ­fifties.

“(They) are seen as a place for people to be made comfortable as they prepare to die,” Ms Roche told an aged care royal commission. “Michael was not there to die. Quite the opposite: he wanted to recover and recreate his life.”

In harrowing testimony, Ms Roche said she had no choice but to place Michael in a residential aged-care facility in 2015 after he left his rehabilitation hospital following the stroke. Specialist disability accommodation or rehabi­litation support was not available.

“Michael was in his fifties and, even following the stroke, he should have been able to have years of meaningful life and enjoyable lifestyle in front of him,” she said. “In aged care, Michael spent most of his time in his small room as he was wheelchair-bound and could not really leave without help. He had any limited remaining independence and choice stripped from him.

“In my view, if Michael had not entered residential aged care and if other options had been available, he would still be here today.”

The royal commission is this week examining the issue of younger people in residential aged care.

In his opening address, senior counsel assisting the commission Peter Rozen QC said the 6000 people under 65 in residential aged care were “largely unseen and ‘lost’ Australians. They are hidden. They deserve better.”

“For too long, aged-care ser­vices have been seen as the last ­resort option, the safety net, if you will, when all else fails,” he said. “We can no longer be satisfied with the aged-care sector acting as a Band-Aid for the failings of other systems.”

Mr Rozen reminded the commissioners of a Senate committee report in 2005 that called on state and federal governments to co-operate to provide alternative forms of accommodation for younger people, and the resulting five-year ­initiative introduced by COAG in 2006. “Despite the ­expenditure of considerable resources, the 2006-2011 initiative had a negligible effect on the overall numbers of younger people entering aged care,” he said. “We will ask whether history is about to be ­repeated with a current initiative.”

Mr Rozen also pointed to a 2015 Senate committee that recommended the commonwealth compile a database of young people living in residential aged care, a recommendation that has not been implemented. “Our commonwealth government agencies still do not have ­accurate and reliable data upon which to ground evidence-based policy,” he said.

Commissioner Lynelle Briggs noted the significant challenges younger people had living with much older residents in aged care and the isolation it caused.

“It’s truly shocking and shouldn’t be allowed to continue,” Ms Briggs said.

The commission also heard from 43-year-old Lisa Corcoran, who said in her statement that the aged-care accommodation in which she has lived for the past six years was “hell”.

“To me (it’s) like God’s waiting room … all the other residents just sitting as if they were waiting to die. You could hear a pin drop,” Ms Corcoran said. “Everyone at this facility is waiting to meet God, but I am not ready yet.”

Ms Corcoran said she had ­appeared at the commission to ­ensure “people understand there are people like me … We are all ­humans. People crave respect. I feel like I have lost that respect.”