AUSTRALIA: Plan to protect the aged who live alone

SYDNEY (The Australian), June 13, 2008: Patricia Karvelas, Political correspondent ORGANISATIONS that provide services to elderly people who live on their own, such as Meals on Wheels, will be forced to call emergency contacts and hospitals if door knocks and telephone calls go unanswered under a plan to cut the number of frail older Australians dying alone at home. A new national protocol will be put forward by federal Ageing Minister Justine Elliot at today's inaugural meeting of the Ministerial Conference on Ageing. The conference, held on the NSW north coast, will bring together the federal, state and territory ministers for ageing, seniors and older Australians. The governments will consult on the draft protocol and want it in force by August. About 29 per cent of Australians aged 65 years and older - 783,000 people - lived alone in private dwellings in 2006, with the percentage increasing to 39 among those aged 85 and over. ABS projections suggest that by 2026, about 907,000 people aged 75 years and over will be living alone, most of them women. Some of them die alone at home, with the NSW Coroner reportedly taking custody of 299 decomposed or decomposing bodies in 2006 and 283 last year. News of the protocol comes as the federal Government puts up a one-off allocation of $4.2million to 21 community organisations to combat social isolation, as well as providing emergency meals, shelter and clothing to frail older people. The funding includes money for Anglicare Australia to provide services that support social re-engagement, including $300,000 to undertake research and pilot projects that support participation of socially isolated older people in the community. Under the proposed protocol, service providers such as Meals on Wheels will be told to identify people "at risk", including those with dementia, and to arrange to have access to a spare key to their home. The service providers, who together deal with more than one million older people each year, will also be asked to arrange a daily phone call to check on their wellbeing. If a person cannot be contacted, the service provider must get in touch with their emergency contact. If they still cannot be found, the provider must contact local hospitals and, if access to the home is required, emergency services. They must stay in touch with the client's emergency contact. Ms Elliot said winter was a particularly hard time for many vulnerable older people in the community. "Winter is a peak season for community care services to provide emergency assistance and this funding recognises the work of so many organisations working within the community," she said. Copyright 2008 News Limited