SimplHealth launches white paper on aged care

SimplHealth launches white paper on aged care

A white paper released today by New Zealand health IT specialist, SimplHealth, calls for urgent changes to aged care and aged disability care to address the issue of providing the best healthcare for a growing elderly population.

Along with other Western Countries, New Zealand is facing growing numbers of older people after the first baby boomers reached 65 years old in 2011.

In a country of 4.5 million people, the number of over 65s is expected to rise from 13 per cent of the population in 2009 to 21 per cent by 2031. The numbers of over-85 year olds will more than double from 67,000 in 2009 to 144,000 in 2031.

This growth will put strain on the healthcare system, because older people need more healthcare, and are more prone to disability.

Added to this, over coming decades there will also be the pressure of rising obesity and associated conditions such as diabetes, and cardiovascular and kidney disease, as well as longer life expectancy.

CEO of SimplHealth, Jodi Mitchell, said the aim of the White Paper is to take one step towards understanding the enormity of the problem so it can be managed:

“This is such a massive issue that we wanted to start eating the elephant in the waiting room, one bite at a time.

“While the problem is significant and complex it is not beyond the realms of collaborative system technology, health informatics and business processes to manage elderly care in a much more efficient way,” she says.

The White Paper takes a comprehensive look at the make-up of the older population, what are their needs and how they are looked after, and models of funding.

It discusses its many complexities including where it is managed, such as in the home, residential care facilities or in hospitals, how it is managed in different DHB regions and the wide range of professionals involved.

“The New Zealand aged care and healthcare system is respected around the world but there’s always room for improvement; we need to keep ahead of the aged care curve so we can manage the health of more and more older people,” Jodi Mitchell continues.

“We believe this is possible using existing resources and there are three needs that would bring efficiencies,” she says.

“The first is access to more information so that an overall view of what is needed can be developed – at present there is no clear or consistent picture of met or unmet demand.

“Second, there needs to be more consistent and better quality data so that accurate decisions can be made from the individual to policy level.

“And finally, a business process could be added to the existing system to manage the right level and type of care needed for each individual patient. These types of systems already exist and could be adapted for aged care.

“More sharing of information and collaboration through a business process would save time, support better decisions and improve healthcare outcomes,” she says.

How healthcare is managed for older people in the future also has implications for the care of younger people, as if the challenge of aged care is not met, healthcare for all ages will suffer because of budget constraints.

The White Paper concludes by pointing out that at the heart of addressing the issue is cost and funding, so the first step should be a comprehensive economic analysis of national aged care needs.

Titled “Will you still need me, Will you still feed me, When I’m 65” the SimplHealth White Paper is available for download here.

ENDS

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