Short Description
Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACATs) help older people and their carers decide what kind of care will best meet their needs when they are no longer able to manage at home without assistance. ACATs provide information on suitable care options and can help arrange access or referral to appropriate residential or community care.
More Details
Many people are assessed as needing community care services, such as Home and Community Care (HACC), to help them to stay in their own home for as long as possible. ACATs may also approve a Community Aged Care Package (CACP) or an Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) Package, which are packages of coordinated care services provided in the client's own home. This option may be more appropriate if the client has more complex care needs and prefers to remain at home.
If the client needs residential aged care, an ACAT assessment and approval must be undertaken prior to entry into a home. The ACAT can approve either high level (nursing home) care or low level (hostel) care, depending on the person's level of care needs.
ACATs cover all of Australia and are based in hospitals or in the local community. Information about the closest ACAT is available from the Commonwealth Carelink Centres or on the Department of Health and Ageing web site.
The Australian Government provides funds to the State and Territory Governments, specifically to operated and manage the ACATs.