The Health of Older People (HoP) portfolio is principally responsible for the care of people within central Auckland who are aged 65 and over. Providers of service for this group fall into four main categories, these being: Aged Residential Care (ARC), Home and Community Support services, Specialist services (Auckland City Hospital Inpatient services and A+links) and domiciliary care.  In addition, this group, which accounts for approximately 10% of the ADHB population, are high users of other services such as primary and acute care, as well as being major contributors to costs associated with the provision of pharmaceuticals and laboratory tests.

The ADHB is charged with implementing the national Health of Older People Strategy, which is concerned to a large degree with the enactment of the ‘Ageing in Place’ philosophy – a fundamental shift in care provision which will enable older people to be maintained safely in their homes with support for longer or indefinite periods of time, delaying or preventing admission to residential care wherever possible. To implement this in our area, and to ensure that older people are receiving care in a ‘right time, right place’ approach, some significant changes still need to occur in the way that we fund and provide services.

This shift is detailed in the ADHB strategy for Older People, Healthy Ageing 2020, which was released following extensive consultation in 2006. We have been implementing the key aspects of the strategy in a staged way since 2008, and we are now three years into the implementation programme, which has completely remodelled the way that we provide and fund services for Older People in their won homes.

A copy of the original Health of Older Person Strategy can be downloaded here.

Contact Lisa Gestro Planning and Funding Manager Health of Older People, Disability & Palliative Care 09 630 9943 x 26097 021 895 104  LGestro@ADHB.GOVT.NZ