The ‘Home Care Today’ project ran from 2013 to June 2017. COTA Australia continues to provide access to Home Care Today resources which were current at June 2017. However they are no longer monitored or updated, and information may not be current.

Consumer Directed Care (CDC) is a way of delivering care that gives individuals choice and flexibility.

The government has included CDC principles in Aged Care laws (User Rights Principles 2014) to ensure older people’s rights are protected.

The six principles of CDC are:

• consumer choice and control
• rights
• respectful and balanced partnerships
• participation
• wellness and re-ablement
• transparency

These principles guide the delivery of Home Care Packages

Home Care Packages take a CDC approach, meaning that consumers

• are encouraged to identify their goals which will be the basis of their care plan
• decide how much involvement they want to have in managing the package
• can choose the way services are delivered, and by whom
• have an individualised budget and a monthly statement of income and expenditure
• can expect regular contact with their provider, and to change the supports if their needs or preferences change.

Introduction to CDC and Home Care Today

WATCH the video: Home Care Package – Introduction to Consumer Directed Care

A longer version of interviews with consumers and service provider in this video provides insights into what CDC means for consumers and how this provider has made changes to embrace the CDC approach in their home care services.

Consumer perspectives on CDC

WATCH the video:  Home Care Package – Consumer perspectives on consumer Directed Care

Provider Perspectives on CDC

WATCH the video:  Provider Perspectives on CDC

Key Elements of Consumer Directed Care

Since 1 July 2015, the User Rights Principles 2014 and the Charter of Care Recipient’s Rights and Responsibilities-Homecare (the Charter), which recognise the rights and responsibilities of consumers and providers, explicitly acknowledge the key elements of CDC, emphasising the right of consumers to exercise choices in relation to the care provided to them.

Choice and flexibility

The Charter specifies consumers’ right to: ·

• be supported by the provider to set goals, determine the level of ongoing involvement that they wish to have, and make decisions relating to their own care and to maintain their independence as far as possible; ·
• choose the care and services that best meet their goals, preferences and assessed needs, within the limits of the resources available;
• have choice and flexibility in the way the care and services are provided at home; ·
• participate in making decisions that affect them; and ·
• have their representative participate in decisions relating to their care.

Individualised Budgets and Monthly Statements

An individualised budget must be developed in partnership between the consumer and the provider. It must list the amount of subsidy the Government is paying (including any supplements), the maximum amount of home care fees payable by the consumer and the cost of the agreed care and services. Consumers are to receive an individualised budget as soon as practical after the provider has all the necessary information to complete the budget.

The consumer is to also receive a monthly statement of available funds and expenditure for the care and services delivered in a particular period.

Both of these documents must be in an agreed format that is easy to read and understandable by the consumer.

This DVD has been produced by the Workforce Innovation Network in the Central Coast of NSW.

It is designed to introduce staff to the changes that will result from the introduction of consumer directed care.

WATCH the video:  Consumer Directed Care – it’s a matter of choice!