Time to Think

⁠⁠⁠The Department of Health (Department) is undertaking an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to expand the number of beds in the Time to Think program. Grant agreements for this program are under a shared award and negotiated individually.

Time to Think is a compassionate nation-leading initiative aimed at giving older Western Australians the space and time they need to make informed decisions about their future care and living arrangements.

Older Western Australians in Time to Think beds receive high standard residential respite care under the Aged Care Act and Aged Care Quality and Safety Standards, along with extra allied health to maintain functioning after a hospital stay and extra support to explore and secure long-term care options.

Time to Think providers receive the usual Commonwealth funding and consumer contributions for residential respite care. In addition, providers will receive funding under Time to Think grants to cover the costs of safely admitting/discharging clients to the service, as well as the costs for the additional allied health and case management. The opportunity cost of setting aside beds for the program and/or costs for minor works to bring beds online may also be negotiated.

Eligible clients are those who are medically ready for discharge from a WA public hospital or a public hospital bed in a WA public-private partnership hospital and have an aged care assessment with approval for residential respite care.

Aged care providers can be participants of both the Respite Pilot and Time to Think.

Time to Think objectives:

Supporting aged care providers to offer short term respite care to patients who have insufficient supports at home and are considering or awaiting long term aged care services upon leaving hospital.

Increasing the availability of respite care in WA by covering the additional admission, discharge, and case management costs incurred by providers.

The intended outcomes of Time to Think are:

Older long stay patients leave hospital sooner, decreasing their risk of physical and mental deterioration, loss of function, and exposure to infection associated with long hospital stays.

More beds are available for people who need hospital care.