What is Short Term Care?

If you’ve been researching in home care, you’ve probably come across ‘short term care’. But what exactly is short term care? Is it care provided after a hospital stay? Is it respite? Or is it both?

Here’s a brief overview of the types of short term care in Australia, and how you can organise short term care services for yourself or your loved one.

What is Short Term Care?

In the context of in home care, short term care is a type of temporary support offered in the comfort of your home. Short term care will often be delivered when your usual carer is unavailable, or after you’ve undergone surgery. Depending on your needs, you might receive short term care for a couple of days, weeks, or even months. And support could include a number of services—personal care, domestic care, social support, or gardening, just to name a few. Overall, short term care is designed to help you maintain, or regain your freedom and independence.

Types of Short Term Care

There are two main types of in home, short term care. The first, is respite care. Respite care is usually organised when a family carer will be unavailable for a short period of time. This could be due to a family event—like a wedding or funeral, a sudden illness, or simply because your usual carer needs a short break. In this case, a qualified care worker would take over your regular carer’s responsibilities in the interim, until they’re able to return to their role.

The second type of short term care is transition care, otherwise known as post hospital care. As the name suggests, post hospital care is temporary care delivered at home after a hospital visit or recent surgery. Usually, post hospital care will include wound care, or medication support, as well as any other necessary help with day-to-day living.

How to Organise Short Term Care

Both types of short term home care can be subsidised in Australia (depending on your situation). If you’d like to explore subsidised short term care options, contact the NDIS if you live with disability, or My Aged Care if you’re an older Australian. Then, you’ll complete an assessment and be granted access to subsidised care if you qualify. After that, you’re free to contact a registered home care provider of your choice to organise your temporary care—too easy!

Could you use some temporary support while your usual carer is away, or after a hospital visit? Here at Simply Helping, we offer short term care as part of our in home care! Click here to learn more and contact us today.