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2 September 2008

News release

HEALTH BOARDS NEED TO DO MORE FOR THE ELDERLY

The country’s 21 District Health Boards’ need to improve their care of elderly people, according to an independent report released today.

The HOPE Foundation for Research on Ageing has surveyed how well the DHBs are meeting the Government’s policy on the health of older people which is meant to be implemented by 2010.

Foundation chair Professor Emeritus David Richmond, said that while good progress was being made in some areas, there remained issues of concern.

“For example, the needs of ethnic minorities, the quality of service delivery and the extent of service integration within the DHBs all required improvement.

“Our research has also revealed factors that hinder implementation of the Strategy. These include the level of Ministry of Health funding, workforce availability and training and the internal “culture” of some of the DHBs.”

Prof Richmond said, with a quarter of the population over 65 by 2040, ageing was arguably the most important challenge facing New Zealand over the next 25 years.

“It is vital that we develop appropriate responses now rather than just hoping it will go away if it is ignored.”

The Foundation’s research follows the release in 2002 of The New Zealand Health of Older People Strategy which set out the Government’s future direction of health and disability support services for older people.

“Inquiries by the Foundation revealed divergences in the preparedness of health boards to meet the Strategy objectives so we commissioned this report to evaluate their progress,” Prof Richmond said.

The Foundation’s findings include:

All but one DHB has a section on older people’s health in its District Annual Plan. Otago did not, despite having one of the highest proportions – 14% - of people aged over 65. Bay of Plenty, Wairarapa and Nelson/Marlborough also have 14% of elderly people, with only South Canterbury being higher at 16%.
Health boards made informal assumptions rather than providing actual evidence that older people were satisfied with their services. One commented: “We are not getting a huge public outcry.”
Only 12 of the 21 DHBs rated themselves. Of those who did, Capital and Coast Health rated itself the most highly in terms of implementing the strategy, followed by Hawkes Bay. West Coast rated itself lowest.
Smaller DHBs had difficulty attracting staff while the larger ones found labour costs were high and suffered quality issues, particularly in home-based support services because of the number of different providers.
Wages for home-based support staff should be increased.
Nursing services in the community should be increased.
Older people are often unaware of what they are entitled to and GPs and other health providers don’t tell them.
Health services should avoid giving people inappropriate appointment times, such as 8am in rush hour traffic for a frail elderly person.

Prof Richmond said, with a 2010 deadline looming for the implementation of the Health of Older People Strategy, DHBs had less than two years to activate their plans.

“It is encouraging that DHBs are making reasonable progress even though the level of consumer or community satisfaction is not clear.

“What is disconcerting is the lack of documentary evidence to support DHB management’s contention that the Strategy is being satisfactorily rolled out.”

He said that, while DHBs were confident good progress was being made, the Foundation’s research had revealed discrepancies between those perceptions and what the DHBs’ own action plans showed was really happening.

“Our report shows, and it is a view which was shared by local branches of Age Concern who participated in the survey, that improvements to health services for older people are less than those being reported by DHB managers.”

The Foundation’s research was undertaken by Lisa Stewart from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland. She reviewed documents from all 21 District Health Boards and evaluated responses from some local Age Concern branches, all of whom had been invited to participate.

Note to Editors: The HOPE Foundation for Research on Ageing (www.hopefoundation.org.nz) is an independent organisation without ties to any government funding. It is committed to disseminating research-based information in order to improve the quality of policy-making as NZ communities grapple with the implications of a rapidly ageing population. Its vision statement is Preparing New Zealand for an Ageing Future.

In 1966, 12% of the population was 64 and over. In 2040, it will be 24%. From 2010 onwards, the number of older people will increase as the baby boomer generation enters retirement. The proportion of older people aged 75 and over will be particularly significant over the next two decades and it is estimated that the proportion over age 85 will quadruple within the next 20 years.

The Report is available by clicking the link below

For more information or to arrange an interview with Professor David Richmond, please contact, Annie Hogan on 021 725 259 or HOPE Foundation Executive officer Jan Bowman on 021 455 466.

Report on District Health Boards

Full report PDF download (1mb)

Note: You need Acrobat Reader to view the report, if you do not have a copy of the reader it can be downloaded from here.

The New Zealand Health of Older People Strategy - An Evaluation of District Health Board implementation and service alignment

The HOPE Foundation commissioned Lisa Stewart in 2006 to conduct this specific research. Lisa has both a BA and postgraduate qualiﬁcations in Nursing and undertook a Master in Science within the School of Nursing. The commission was to follow up District Health Boards and evaluate the extent to which they are following the Government’s Strategy for the Health of Older People as they serve the ageing populations in their area.

The 21 District Health Boards have a deadline of 2010 to ensure that their service delivery will meet the needs of their older people and be in line with the key objectives within the Strategy which was launched by the NZ Government in May 2002.

Lisa contacted all 21 District Health Boards. She consulted with Chief Executive Ofﬁcers, Clinical Directors, service managers and/or nurse managers involved in older people ’s health, along with advocacy support agencies such as the local branch of Age Concern, to obtain their view in relation to how the plan is being carried out within each District Health Board area.

In September 2008 the report was released to District Health Boards.

Read the full report PDF Download 1mb