Pathways in aged care: do people follow recommendations?

The latest Bulletin from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare looks at pathways in aged care. Before people can access key aged care programs, they need to obtain approval for program eligibility from an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT). The assessment teams also make recommendations on the preferred setting for receiving care; that is, in the person’s home or in a residential care facility with either a low or high level of care. The purpose of this bulletin is to look at care pathways of older Australians through the aged care system for 2 years following their first assessment for such services. Care pathways are analysed according to the long-term care setting recommended by the ACAT.
The bulletin uses data from the Pathways in Aged Care project, which links 2003–04 ACAT data to data sets showing use of five main aged care programs and deaths.