The Policy

Improving care for older people: a policy for Health Services highlights the need to change health care practices in response to Victoria’s growing and ageing population.

As our society ages, all Health Services will experience a rise in the percentage of older people requiring treatment and care.

Health Services will need to implement plans, policies and procedures that ensure the quality of care provided to older people is in keeping with practice based on best evidence.

The policy focuses on improving the care provided for older people by Health Services and integrating care across settings to ensure that people have the appropriate care in the appropriate place. Three fundamental issues have emerged in considering how to improve and integrate the care of older people, namely, the need to:

1. adopt a strong person-centred approach to the provision of care and services
2. better understand the complexity of older people’s health care needs
3. improve integration within Health Service’s community-based programs and between Health Services and ongoing support services available in the broader community.

Twelve core principles underpin this policy. These principles form the basis of practices and processes that address the fundamental issues for Victorian Health Services in providing care for older people.
The discussion of each principle identifies:

• Key objectives – the ways in which the principle will be implemented
• Action areas for Health Services – possible change management issues for Health Services
• Implementation issues – complex problems where the Department of Human Services will work with Health Services and staff to resolve these issues

The principles identified in this policy form the basis of future work that will be supported by the Department of Human Services and present a practical vision for the direction in which Health Services should be heading in the treatment and care of older people.