As Australia’s longest standing and only independent medical research institute specifically focused on ageing, NARI has decades of experience in aged care research, advocacy and education.

This paper shares NARI's position on the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety relating to the health and clinical care needs of older people in residential aged care.

The Royal Commission described a failure to facilitate or coordinate and deliver care to meet the complex health and clinical care needs of people living in this setting, particularly for residents with dementia and changed behaviours, mental health problems, and palliative care needs.

This paper argues that delivering holistic care that meets aged care residents’ diverse social, physical, health care and emotional care needs should be a priority for aged care providers.

Based on our research and experience in the aged care sector, NARI supports the following:

• A new Aged Care Act that provides a system of aged care based on a universal right to high quality, safe and timely support and care that does not depend on the older person’s capacity for self-advocacy.
• A balanced discussion about the best ways to create and fund an integrated system of care for older people that responds to their diverse social, physical, health care and emotional care needs, wherever they reside.

Position Paper: The health and clinical care needs of older people in residential aged care