84 Hotham St, Preston VIC 3072

Office Hours: MON – FRI 09:00am – 5:00pm

 

Email: info@gihc.com.au

 

4 pillars of well-being


It is very important to work on these 4 pillars to maintain mental and physical health, not matter what age you are.


1. Get enough sleep – Sleep helps the mind and body
recover day after day, and when you don’t get enough sleep, it can affect your
emotions, how you react to certain situations and can deteriorate your mental
and physical health.

     
2. Healthy eating and exercising – Healthy eating
and exercising are both extremely important to maintain mental and physical
health. Healthy eating and exercising can ensure you get all the nutrients your
body and mind requires to maintain a healthy body weight and assist in improving
overall mood.

    
3. Social connection – Remaining social throughout
your life will help maintain a positive mental wellbeing. Extended loneliness
can be very damaging to a person’s mental wellbeing.

   
4. Practice gratitude and stay positive. Practicing
gratitude and positivity can have profound effects on one’s mental wellbeing.
You can practice these things by taking time to ask yourself what you’re
grateful. You can then express your gratitude on others, or practice gratitude
meditation to savour the good and anchor yourself in the present.  

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

65 y/o on NDIS funding will continue at 66 y/o and can change to My Aged Care funding

65 y/o who have NDIS funding can continue to receive the same level of NDIS funding when they turn 66 and have the option to change to receive aged funding through My Aged Care.


Almost half of Australians living with disability are over the age of 65, however are not eligible for NDIS funding due to their age alone. Individuals 66 and over that require assistance due to disability would have to make do with much less funding than if they were under 65 and could get NDIS funding. The difference in funding levels is especially prevalent for entry level aged care support needs in comparison to the NDIS.

Speirs, T. (2021) “Comparing aged care and NDIS support” page 22


Although people over 65 are not eligible for NDIS, individuals that were receiving NDIS support services before turning 65 can continue to receive the same supports, from the same provider with the same level of NDIS funding and will have the option to change to receive aged funding through My Aged Care if they wish, however this could impact the level of funding they receive.

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

Home Care Package (HCP) management fees to be capped

Minister for Aged Care, Anika Wells has announced her plans to cap aged care provider’s management fees by January 1. Care management fees will be capped at 20 percent, and package management fees will be capped at 15 per cent.

 

By capping care management and package management fees, seniors will get more hours for their home care package, as there are currently providers charging as much as 40 per cent of their Home Care Package (HCP). Gratitude In-home Care only charges 25 per cent so seniors can get more support hours from their HCP.

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

Even if the water level is not very high, driving in flood waters can be very dangerous

Don’t try to drive through flood waters. Even if the water level is not very high, driving in flood waters can be very dangerous. 

Flooding can obscure underwater objects and the quality of roads that may have been weakened or washed away. 

Most cars lose power when the water depth is over 15 cm, as the water enters the exhaust port, flows into the air intake. Most cards will begin to float when the water level exceeds 30 cm.

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

Remembrance Day 2022

Today we pay our respects to Australians who died while serving in wars for Australia.


Remembrance Day is a memorial day for Australia and throughout the British Commonwealth countries, also known as Veterans Day in the United States, and Armistice day in France. Rememberence day originated from the day the Armistice agreement was signed between the Axis and Allies in France which marked the end of World War 1 on November 11, 1918 at 11:00AM.


It is customary to take a minute silence to pay respects.

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

15 per cent pay rise for in-home care and residential aged care on the way

The Fair Work Commission has granted a 15 per cent pay rise for aged care workers in the in-home care and residential aged care settings for Personal Care assistants and nurses.

For some permanent part-time aged care workers this could mean an extra $4 per hour increase and casual workers could increase to around $36 per hour. 

This pay increase is welcomed by many, including Aged Care Minister, Anika Wells who believes it is a strong first step in the fight to get Aged Care the pay that they deserve. This pay rise could help attract staff to the sector and help retain staff, but unions are continuing to fight for a 25 per cent increase, which the Fair Work Commission is considering. It is still unknown when exactly the 15 per cent pay rise will take effect.

 

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

Movember | Men’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention | Prostate Cancer | Testicular Cancer

Movember is about bringing light to men’s mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

There’s a lot of resources available on the Movember website and many ways to support the cause.

You can grow a mustache to raise funds, run or walk 60km over the month, host a mo-ment, or take on your own challenge, all to raise funds for mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. This funding is going towards developing inventions, therapies and diagnostic tests.

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

Aged Care sector could grow by 75% in the next 20 years

Federal Minister for Aged Care, Anika Wells, mentioned in her speech at the Economic and Social Outlook Conference on 2 November 2022 that there will be an influx of baby boomers entering the aged care system over the next 20 years. This influx could amount to an increase of 75% of older Australians in the sector.

 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS, 2021) has projected there will be a 140% increase in people aged between 85-99 from 2021-2041.

 

Many baby boomers want to live independently at home, however there could be as many as 350,000 seniors looking to access nursing homes over the next twenty years.

 

Two thirds of residential aged care facilities are running at a loss (StewartBrown, 2022), and this influx could see struggling facilities not able to cope.

 

Anika Wells has a positive outlook on the situation, with plans to continue making significant changes in the industry.

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

World COPD day | Chronic Bronchitis, and Emphysema | Early detection is Vital

November is world COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) awareness month. There are two forms of COPD, which are Chronic Bronchitis, and Emphysema. These are pulmonary diseases which cause difficulty in breathing, chest tightness, wheezing, chronic cough, swelling in ankles etc.

Smoking is the number one cause of COPD. Other causes of COPD include Environmental exposure such as dust, silica, and air pollutants.

Bronchitis can lead to mucus and air being trapped in the lungs which can increase the risk of getting pneumonia, or other infections in the lungs.

Emphysema leads to air sacs in the lungs being damaged and eventually close off and cause air trapping, which reduces the amount of space available within the lungs.

COPD can be treated, but not cured. Early detection of COPD is very important to slow the damage caused by the disease. Medicine and therapy can be used to treat people living with COPD and ensure they live a long life, but if not detected until late stages of COPD, life expectancy is short.

For more information, visit the COPD Foundation website at: https://www.copdfoundation.org/

 

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.

Using Home Care Package Funding in Emergency

In the event that recipients of home care packages are in flood affected areas and request the use of unspent funds to clean up their homes, aged care providers should make sure the costs will not already be covered by their insurance and/or provided by state emergency management services as well as could be financed by the Australian Government’s Disaster Recovery Payment program.
The following are a list of services and items that Home Care Packages can be used on in case of emergency.

  • Cleaning services
  • Cleaning equipment
  • Replacing/repairing home modifications
  • Equipment/ Appliance hire
  • Transportation
  • Accommodation

It is recommended that HCP recipients get in touch with their aged care providers to discuss their unique situation to clarify what exactly they may use their HCP funding for in emergency situations.
Home Care Package funding cannot be used to pay for insurance premiums or excess payments.

 

Try our calculator for self-funded individuals!

We understand that it can be stressful trying to figure out how much money the care you need will cost. We’ve made it easy to figure out how much it will cost for even the most complicated of care plans.