ABSTRACT

Background At any point in time in Australia, around one in ten older people have left their home to receive either respite or permanent care in a residential care facility [1]. e Australian aged care system is a tiered system that comprises both community and residential aged care places. Residential aged care may be provided as either ‘high-level’ or ‘low-level’ care, depending on clients’ needs. In the Australian aged care system, high-level care is equivalent to nursing home care in other countries, and reects high levels of medical and personal care needs. Low-level residential care (also referred to as ‘hostel care’ in the Australian system) provides help and housing to older people who do not need continual, high level access to nursing care but have physical, medical, psychological or social care needs that cannot be met through living in the community [2].