Deaf ‘falling through the cracks’

Deaf to tell royal commission their aged care concerns are not being heard.

Elizabeth and Walter Karn will give evidence to the aged-care royal commission.

When Elizabeth Karn gives evidence to the aged-care royal commission this week, she will tell them how she is falling through the cracks.

Along with her husband, Walter, Mrs Karn is profoundly deaf.

She would have been eligible for financial support under the NDIS for an Auslan interpreter to help her at her appointments or other occasions but by the time it was rolled out in the Wollongong region, where she lives, Mrs Karn had passed the NDIS age threshold of 65.

Now 68, Mrs Karn doesn’t feel old, but is struggling to navigate the aged-care system.

So far, to no avail, as the system does not fund government-­funded Auslan interpreting ser­vices, which run to about $240 for up to two hours.

This is despite a government commitment to “consumer- ­directed care” in aged care.

“We feel like we don’t belong in the same category as people ­accessing aged-care services.

“We are still active, many of our friends are still working,” Mrs Karn said, through her daughter Tina, acting as interpreter.

“We don’t need help with our shopping, cleaning or personal care, like others in aged care.

“But at the same time we feel excluded, neglected and isolated from our community because we can’t access an interpreter, a service that would mean so much to our quality of daily life.

“Where do we belong? When are we going to be included and accepted as being valued as other Australian citizens?”

The 2016 census identified 871 deaf people over the age of 65. There are more now, more “deaf elders” who find themselves in a similar situation as Mrs Karn.

They are not the only ones who feel they are falling through the cracks in the aged-care ­system, as the aged-care royal commission will hear from Monday when it examines the aged-care needs of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and characteristics.

This week’s hearings will focus on the experiences and needs of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, LGBTI people, people who have survived forced removal from their parents (including forgotten Australians, child migrants and the Stolen Generations), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, and Defence veterans.

“Diversity is a hallmark of humanity, yet aged care has not always responded to needs that are out of the ‘ordinary’,” the commission said in a statement ahead of this week’s hearings. “Barriers of a cultural, linguistic and experiential nature can too easily intrude between those providing and receiving care. Unless careful attention is given to these aspects of care, there is a risk the system will leave older people isolated.”

The commission will also hear from Brian Lynch, who served in the Australian Army for 14 years.

Now suffering severe post-traumatic stress disorder, Mr Lynch will give evidence about his particular needs in aged care as a veteran of the Vietnam War.

Issues of trauma care, designing for diversity, cultural safety, social isolation, discrimination and communication will also be explored.