Most people aged 65 or over are fit and healthy. A minority are frail and vulnerable and require high levels of care and disability support. This is usually during the last few years of their lives, or as a result of chronic illness or disability that may have been present for many years.
Currently health and disability support programmes for older people tend to be planned, funded and provided in a piecemeal fashion that results in service gaps and overlaps in some areas and
inconsistent access criteria.
This is inefficient, and confusing for older people and carers trying to identify their health and disability support options. Opportunities for regaining health or improving quality of life are lost because of the lack of focus on promoting wellbeing in older age.
Particularly for frail older people, the way health and disability support services are provided is a key component of their quality of life. To recognise this, services need to develop to support ageing in place offering people the opportunity to continue to live safely in their community. This includes appropriate treatment for acute episodes of ill health, rehabilitation to support recovery, and ongoing support for people who are disabled.
The primary aim of the strategy is to develop an integrated approach to health and disability support services that is responsive to older people’s varied and changing needs. This approach, the integrated continuum of care, means that an older person is able to access needed services at the right time, in the right place and from the right provider. Providers work closely together, and, where appropriate, with families, wha¯nau and carers. Services and programmes in the continuum may include health promotion, preventive care, specialist medical and psychiatric care, hospital care, rehabilitation, community support services, equipment, respite care and residential care.
Currently health and disability support programmes for older people tend to be planned, funded and provided in a piecemeal fashion that results in service gaps and overlaps in some areas and
inconsistent access criteria.
This is inefficient, and confusing for older people and carers trying to identify their health and disability support options. Opportunities for regaining health or improving quality of life are lost because of the lack of focus on promoting wellbeing in older age.
Particularly for frail older people, the way health and disability support services are provided is a key component of their quality of life. To recognise this, services need to develop to support ageing in place offering people the opportunity to continue to live safely in their community. This includes appropriate treatment for acute episodes of ill health, rehabilitation to support recovery, and ongoing support for people who are disabled.
The primary aim of the strategy is to develop an integrated approach to health and disability support services that is responsive to older people’s varied and changing needs. This approach, the integrated continuum of care, means that an older person is able to access needed services at the right time, in the right place and from the right provider. Providers work closely together, and, where appropriate, with families, wha¯nau and carers. Services and programmes in the continuum may include health promotion, preventive care, specialist medical and psychiatric care, hospital care, rehabilitation, community support services, equipment, respite care and residential care.
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