After Dad passed away in January 2018, Coral began to write, starting with her blog “Dementia, my dad and me.” This was her way of dealing with the grief of Dad’s passing. This documented Coral’s journey with Dad over his final 8-10 years, his slow decline in cognition, his eventual diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, his final year of life and his eventual death.
At work, Coral was being asked more and more by her allied health and nursing colleagues to help families to understand what support could be utilised to get their older loved ones home from hospital and keep them there.
It was at this point that Coral realised she could do so much more to educate people on Australia’s aged care system so they could get the help they needed at home. So her business was born.
We care about people getting the right outcomes for their older loved ones.
In this episode:
- How Coral’s blog helped people to understand Australia’s aged care system
- Coral’s decision to give up her nursing position and launch her business as an aged care navigator.
- We educate people to get the best out of Australia’s aged care system
- Preparation is key before you contact My Aged Care
- Situations where we have helped people to get the help they need
- Being stoic can be a disadvantage
- Entry-level versus higher-level care options
- The aged care system can provide options if people are aware of the programs that can be accessed
Resources Mentioned
Connect with Coral Wilkinson:
About Your Aged Care Compass Podcast:
Are you supporting an older loved one at home and ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is aimed at anyone who is caring for an older loved one who still lives at home and is wondering what support is available to them.
We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.
Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.
Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is now client care manager for our business.
Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. We reached a point however, of needing extra support and we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well, we knew what programs could assist us and our parents.
This podcast, Your Aged Care Compass, brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our own ageing parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home.
We will help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system, from your first contact with My Aged Care through to the different funding streams and assessment workforces, management options for home care packages and extra funding that people might be eligible for.
There's so much more. Topics relating to dementia and legal and financial considerations will be covered, as well as real life stories of where it went wrong for people and how we guided them to get it right.
Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones.