The team at Radius Care have decades of experience in helping you choose the right Radius Care facility for your loved one, and have broken down the process into six simple steps, starting with a Needs Assessment.
If you feel like it’s time for a loved one to receive greater care and attention, the first step is to organise a needs assessment with your local Needs Assessment Services Co-ordinator (NASC). The purpose of NASC is to determine whether your close friend or family member is eligible for long-term care in a rest home. Anyone can enter residential care of their own volition, but if you wish to receive disability support from your District Health Board (DHB), then it’s essential to undergo a needs assessment.
Once an appointment has been made with NASC, a needs assessor will visit your home to identify and discuss the specific health requirements of your loved one. This is a necessary step to complete the needs assessment and may include a specialist geriatric assessment. If your family member or close friend is already hospitalised, the hospital can arrange a needs assessment in the ward.
The needs assessor will work very closely with your family or whānau to discuss the options and support services available. Depending on the needs of the person close to you, they may be entitled to rest home care, dementia care, or continuing care in a private or psycho-geriatric hospital.
Once NASC finds your loved one to be eligible to enter a rest home care facility, you will be given a financial means application to apply for public funding. All applications for a financial means assessment will be made to Work and Income. The purpose of a financial means assessment is to determine whether the applicant qualifies for public funding through a Residential Care Subsidy or a Residential Care Loan.
After completing the needs assessment, the NASC will help you devise a plan of action to facilitate the commencement of the services you are entitled to, and authorise entry into a rest home that provides you with the assessed level of care required. Choosing the right residential care facility is not always easy, and can be a stressful experience
The Ministry of Health conducts regular audits to ensure all rest homes meet the standards of the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001.
Radius Care’s rest home contact details can be found on each facilities page on their website, so to find the home you are looking for you can visit the locations page and click on the name of the home you are after, and for more information on retirement homes, retirement communities and rest home care please go to http://radiuscare.co.nz .
