Post by Banjo on Aug 21, 2011 18:21:52 GMT 7
Disabled people as young as 23 forced into nursing homes
ALMOST 500 people aged under 65 are living with the frail and elderly in nursing homes, latest figures reveal.
Four are aged under 30 and the youngest is just 23.
The figures are 25 per cent higher than the less than 400 mostly disabled people under pension age who were living in aged care facilities due to a lack of other "suitable' accommodation in 2003.
Housing and Disability Minister Jennifer Rankine revealed the latest figures at a Budget Estimates hearing.
Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent said putting young people in a nursing home was "like imprisonment".
"It's an abhorrent situation you wouldn't wish on any young person, and it's not a great outcome for elderly people either. Different ages have different needs and those two worlds would often collide," she said.
"People with disabilities are often boomeranged from department to department, but what needs to happen is for the state and federal governments to put their bickering aside and provide the money to get these people out of nursing homes and into adequate accommodation."
The Opposition's families and communities spokeswoman Vickie Chapman agreed, saying "more needs to be done to make sure people are housed more appropriately".
"A nursing home is not an appropriate place for a young person with a disability," she said.
Ms Rankine said most people with a disability were housed in nursing homes "only when there is no other suitable supported accommodation option available in their local area, as can be the case in some regional areas".
"The Department for Families and Communities investigates other accommodation options for people who are under 65, but that could involve them moving out of the area, and quite often they choose to remain in the nursing home because it is closer to their family, friends and local community," she said.
Ms Rankine said improved medical science, longer life expectancy and more people surviving vehicle accidents meant demand for disability services had "increased significantly" in recent years.
"We are now assisting more than 5000 more people since we came to office, taking the total number supported to 20,145," she said.
www.adelaidenow.com.au/disabled-people-as-young-as-23-forced-into-nursing-homes/story-e6frea6u-1226118796422
ALMOST 500 people aged under 65 are living with the frail and elderly in nursing homes, latest figures reveal.
Four are aged under 30 and the youngest is just 23.
The figures are 25 per cent higher than the less than 400 mostly disabled people under pension age who were living in aged care facilities due to a lack of other "suitable' accommodation in 2003.
Housing and Disability Minister Jennifer Rankine revealed the latest figures at a Budget Estimates hearing.
Dignity for Disability MP Kelly Vincent said putting young people in a nursing home was "like imprisonment".
"It's an abhorrent situation you wouldn't wish on any young person, and it's not a great outcome for elderly people either. Different ages have different needs and those two worlds would often collide," she said.
"People with disabilities are often boomeranged from department to department, but what needs to happen is for the state and federal governments to put their bickering aside and provide the money to get these people out of nursing homes and into adequate accommodation."
The Opposition's families and communities spokeswoman Vickie Chapman agreed, saying "more needs to be done to make sure people are housed more appropriately".
"A nursing home is not an appropriate place for a young person with a disability," she said.
Ms Rankine said most people with a disability were housed in nursing homes "only when there is no other suitable supported accommodation option available in their local area, as can be the case in some regional areas".
"The Department for Families and Communities investigates other accommodation options for people who are under 65, but that could involve them moving out of the area, and quite often they choose to remain in the nursing home because it is closer to their family, friends and local community," she said.
Ms Rankine said improved medical science, longer life expectancy and more people surviving vehicle accidents meant demand for disability services had "increased significantly" in recent years.
"We are now assisting more than 5000 more people since we came to office, taking the total number supported to 20,145," she said.
www.adelaidenow.com.au/disabled-people-as-young-as-23-forced-into-nursing-homes/story-e6frea6u-1226118796422