News release

From: South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI)

New national framework to drive more tailored care for older Australians

Researchers from the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) Research Centre at SAHMRI and Flinders University have led the development of a new national framework to improve how the quality and safety of care for older Australians is measured and enhanced across the health and aged care system.

Launched today by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care (ACAC), The National Framework for High Quality Person-Centred Care for Older People, marks a major step towards more consistent, evidence-based monitoring of care across multiple settings, including primary care, hospitals, community services and residential aged care.

Older people are the largest users of health and aged care services, often receiving care from multiple providers at the same time. The new Framework responds to this complexity by focusing on the individual experience across the full care journey, rather than viewing care in isolation.

Professor Maria Inacio says the Framework represents an important shift in how Australia approaches the measurement of care for older people.

“For too long, quality monitoring has focused on individual parts of the system. This work recognises that people experience care as a whole, and that improving outcomes requires a coordinated, person-centred approach,” Prof Inacio said.

“This brings together the evidence and expertise needed to better understand how care is delivered to older Australians across the many settings they move between.”

Forming part of the broader Quality Measurement Toolbox developed by ACAC, which also includes an online quality indicator repository, the Framework outlines three core goals.

The goals are i) promoting autonomy, independence and wellbeing, ii) nurturing person-centred care, and iii) enabling integrated, high-quality care across settings.

These aims are supported by guiding principles to ensure care is safe, effective, accessible, comprehensive and centred on the individual.

Researchers have identified key priority areas for measuring care quality, including function, quality of life, cognitive health, access and availability of care, consumer experience, mental wellbeing and more.

“This is about making sure that the care older people receive aligns with what matters most to them,” Prof Inacio said.

“By providing a shared, evidence-based approach to measuring quality, we can support providers, policymakers and the sector to identify where improvements are needed and track progress over time.”

The Framework was informed by a rigorous review of national and international evidence, alongside consultation with consumers, clinicians, policymakers and aged care experts, ensuring it reflects both lived experience and best practice.

CEO of the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) Craig Gear says it will refine the sector’s focus on what matters.

“Older people don't experience aged care and health care as separate systems — they experience whether care is safe, respectful and responsive to their needs,” he said.

“This framework gives the sector a shared evidence-base to identify where reform needs to focus, so that older people's rights and dignity are reflected in the care they actually receive.”