Aged care gaps leave vision impaired Australians struggling
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With new reports saying thousands of older Australians will be without aged care places in the next five years, Home Care Packages are becoming more vital and essential to help alleviate strain on the health system.
Boris Katic (67 years old, Sydney-based) is one of the many suffering from a lack of vision disability care.
Katic has Glaucoma and due to his vision failure, he is losing the capability of living a normal life or even doing simple home chores.
With no family able to help him, limited friends to count on, and lack of funding for services he says – “I struggle with everyday tasks, and I’m scared to even do simple task like make a cup of coffee because I don’t have support.”
“It’s so easy for me to slip and fall, and I don’t have the ability to clean something up if, let’s say, I spill coffee on the floor,” he says.
His vision has gotten progressively worse in the past two years, so he has had to stop grocery shopping. He has one friend who can help him grocery shop but only once a fortnight.
Boris is 1 of the 10 people aged 65 and over who has experienced sight loss which has had serious impacts on his independence and mobility – leaving him in the lurch for help.
“Recent reports show 2 in 5 or 40% of older Australians need some assistance with everyday activities in their household,” says Home Care Packages Business Lead for Vision Australia, Meghan Hird.
“The need for specialised aged care providers is more pressing than ever as the number of older Australians living with a disability, including vision impairment, has been steadily increasing,” says Hird.
In response and to address this issue that is plaguing Australia, particularly NSW, Vision Australia has launched a tailored at home vision care package designed for people 65 year of age and who are blind or have low vision.
Ritchelle is a Content Producer for Healthcare Channel, Australia’s premier resource of information for healthcare.
