When it comes to caring for people in their homes, the challenges home care providers face are seemingly endless. From issues with service personnel to the abundance of complex technology and everything in between, home care providers often have their work cut out for them.

By diving into some of the toughest obstacles these companies face on a daily basis, our blog this week also identifies key solutions to these issues. From seamless customer engagement platforms to automated service, keep reading to find out about the challenges (and solutions!) home care providers face in modern-day Australia.

Communication and coordinating issues between providers, clients, and families

One of the toughest challenges home care providers face nowadays is the efficient coordination and communication between all parties involved in the caregiving process.

While the elderly are the recipients of care, their children are usually those actively involved in the scheduling and management of services. In this regard, most service providers find it a challenge to communicate effectively to all stakeholders without losing out on money, energy, and time.

This is especially the case when a particular client has highly specific needs and is suffering from a serious illness, as the risk of high impact errors are increased.

Increasing demand

As covered in our previous blog, increasing demand is another pressure the aged care industry is presently facing.

According to certain government reports, it is predicted that the number of Australians over the ages of 65 will jump to a whopping 8.9 million in 2055. With a larger portion of this population now opting for home care providers, the demands on this sector, therefore, are only likely to increase. As it is, the industry boasts approximately 270,000 clients.

Further, a jump in demand also ushers in a host of other challenges – increased regulatory oversight, greater calls for transparency, and the need for more qualified staff, to name just a few.

The greater need for trained and qualified staff

Concomitant to increased demand, the need for trained and qualified staff is also a concern for most, if not all, home care providers. While caregiving sometimes boils down to certain personality traits such as compassion, sensitivity, a caring nature and such, these aren’t enough to meet the complex demands of the ageing population in Australia.

Staff that are trained in multiple areas such as cooking and cleaning are also important, and for most groups, setting aside the time and money for comprehensive training isn’t an option. Apart from the right qualifications, experience is equally crucial. For employees without any experience to their name, home care providers need to set aside additional resources to train these individuals, which again, represents an opportunity cost in terms of time and money.

Increased regulatory oversight

With aged care touted as the fastest growing industry in Australia, it’s no surprise that government regulations are fast becoming another challenge.

In fact, an investigation into aged care accreditation by a Senate committee earlier this year demanded closer scrutiny, quality oversight, and a regulatory framework for the present system. While this is done with the view of protecting older and vulnerable populations, this poses significant challenges to aged care organisations, threatening hassle-free service and greater profitability.

How can home care providers overcome these issues? While greater regulatory oversight is not something that can be easily remedied, the other challenges discussed are somewhat easier to solve. When it comes to improving communication and coordination between service providers and clients, automated customer engagement platforms are a popular solution at present. Here, communicating with all parties is transformed into a stress-free part of everyday activity. Beyond just reducing scheduling nightmares, such platforms also improve customer service and experience, transforming home care providers into industry leaders. Automation also reduces the burden of increased demand because it enables home care providers to attend to core tasks in less time and with less labour.

Key takeaways

Apart from those discussed above, home care providers are likely to experience unanticipated challenges going into the future. While some of these can’t be prevented, mitigating their effects and meeting them head-on is possible with the right approaches and the right solutions. Through the use of automated tools and effective customer engagement platforms, dispelling some of the nightmares associated with the aged care sector can soon become a thing of the past.

For home care providers keen on leveraging aged care software that can make a difference, hayylo can help. Contact us today for more information.