Touchstone Life Care has called for the Commonwealth Governments new Aged Care Act to mandate the use of digital advance care planning to meet the escalating needs of an ageing population and satisfy the recommendations of the aged care royal commission.
In its submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee inquiry into the provisions of the Aged Care Bill 2024, Touchstone calls for:
mandatory digital advance care planning integration
support for aged care providers to adopt digital interoperable solutions
enforced advance care planning completion and sharing
ongoing monitoring and compliance.
Most people in Australia have not heard of advance care planning (62%), nor discussed it with others (76%) (1), while a concerning 88% of people die without an advance care directive in place (2).
The implications can be profound and traumatic for patients, loved ones, carers and clinicians, Touchstones founder and CEO Dr Merran Cooper writes in the submission.