We need to talk about carers

19 April 2024

Who cares for our carers? It’s an increasingly urgent question because Australia’s aged care workforce is in crisis. These workers – often older women – tend to have low educational attainment, financial disadvantage and little support. They have less healthy lifestyles and lower levels of physical activity, with shift work and poor sleep making them more vulnerable to ill-health. Their work has high demands, low support and is poorly paid, leading to serious risk of psychological injury. And the COVID-19 pandemic made this crisis even worse.

But we desperately need them to care for us – in fact, most of us are likely to find ourselves supported by the aged care workforce at some point in our lives. Clearly, action is needed. But what interventions will work? And how should they be delivered? Finding answers to these questions is a high priority for the Arcare Family Foundation, which works to ensure older Australians are valued, supported and thrive in our community.

Which is why they chose to partner with Monash University’s National Centre for Healthy Ageing (NCHA) with generous funding, to help develop real-world interventions that service providers can use to support their staff.

Starting with the people who know

Figuring out what will work starts with consulting those at the heart of the matter: the care workers themselves. The NCHA’s team of specialists and experts will work with staff and service providers from across the diverse aged care landscape in Australia, to gather their essential knowledge, expertise and perspectives on the causes of this crisis. Next, they’ll talk to the aged care providers who have tried to solve these problems in the past, asking: ‘What has worked? What hasn’t – and why?’

The aim is to provide a rich understanding of what has caused this crisis, potential solutions, and what might get in the way of those solutions. Then, they will take all these learnings to workshops co-designed with aged care providers, staff and consumers – and that’s where those interventions will be designed, side by side with the people who need them and who will deliver them.

Solving the problem for a win-win

Of course, nobody knows yet what these interventions might look like. The co-design process is based around talking to people and hearing their ideas: you can’t pre-empt it. But the team think they could include providing on-site free health checks for staff, subsidised healthy food at work, physio for aches and pains, better staff training or career development, improved manager training, or more flexible working hours. Once those interventions have been designed, they will be tested – again, with crucial feedback from staff.

And finally, the NCHA will measure just how effective these interventions have been. First and foremost, it’s hoped they will prevent physical and mental harm, giving people the time, energy and resources to look after their own health and wellbeing alongside their other responsibilities. But there are a host of other potential benefits too. The aged care sector has a high rate of turnover: 29 per cent in 2021. That means not enough people stay long enough to develop the skills and expertise that only come through time and experience. Carers who are healthier and happier are more likely to stay in their jobs, keeping their valuable skills where they’re needed. It’s hoped, too, that carers will express a desire for more training, enabling them to find more meaning and value in what they do. And, of course, they are likely to give better care – and those they care for will feel the difference. It’s a win-win.

Support and respect

People who work in aged care are kind, compassionate people, supporting some of the more vulnerable members of our community. The Arcare Family Foundation gift will ensure that these dedicated workers, whose vital role in our society is so often overlooked, are given the support and respect they deserve.