Aged-care residents ‘treated like kids’, survey finds

New survey of aged-care recipients raises serious questions about a lack of respect and dignity, including being treated like children and forced to wear continence pads.

Just 39 per cent of nursing home residents and 32.5 per cent of people using in-home care say their needs are ‘mostly met’.

Almost half of nursing home residents say they have concerns about the quality of the staff caring for them, including un­answered call bells, high turnover and temporary workers not knowing their needs.

One in four says they are concerned about not being given dignity and respect, including being treated like a child, shouted at or feeling forced to be dependent on staff, a new report for the aged-care royal commission shows.

The study, conducted by the National Ageing Research Institute, surveys both nursing home residents and recipients of in-home care.

For those receiving care in the home, it finds their main concerns are value-for-money, fee transparency, service co-ordination and rostering.

With counsel assisting the royal commission set to outline recommendations for system-wide reform of aged care later this week, the surveys will serve to inform commissioners Tony Pagone and Lynelle Briggs about how people using the system actually feel.

The commissioners will deliver a final report to the government on February 26.

The NARI survey of nursing home residents found 46.7 per cent held concerns about staff, citing issues such as understaffing and high rates of carer turnover.

Aged-care residents were also unimpressed with the level of service and the fees paid for those services, with 39.7 per cent having issues with the standard of food and unclear financial charges, or that they were often left feeling lonely and bored.

Almost one in four felt concerned about a lack of dignity and respect. Examples included being treated like a child, being shouted at, or having to wear continence pads rather than be helped to use the toilet.

Overall, just 39 per cent of nursing home residents and 32.5 per cent of people using in-home care say their needs are “mostly met.”

For nursing home residents, many feel their facility isn’t really a “home”.

“When asked about the living space, 49 per cent of residents ‘rarely’ or only ‘sometimes’ felt at home in the shared space of the facility and 36 per cent ‘rarely’ or only ‘sometimes’ felt at home in their own room,” the report said.

“Nearly 12 per cent could not access outside and gardens, and around 16 per cent could only ‘sometimes’ gain access.

“About 57 per cent felt that they were ‘rarely’ or only ‘sometimes’ offered things to do that made them feel valued,” it said.

Those in the system mostly didn’t formally complain, often regarding their concern as either too minor or they didn’t want to be a nuisance. Other reasons were not knowing how to go about making a complaint or suspecting that even if they did, nothing would change.

Of the 1 per cent of complaints that did make it to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the federal government’s aged-care regulator, fewer than half were resolved to the satisfaction of the care recipient.

The report found fewer complaints were raised against ­government-owned aged-care facilities than private facilities. Of the private homes, complaints were made less often against non-profit nursing homes than for-profit ones.

“These results underscore the need for enhanced person-­centred care in the aged-care sector. “(They) also suggest the sector needs more effective management and regulation,” it said.