Aged Care Plan 2012 July, 2012 Shire of Boddington Adopted 19th February 2013 Verso Consulting Pty Ltd Mail Verso Consulting PO Box 412 CLIFTON HILL VIC 3068 Telephone +61 3 9489 3233 Facsimile +61 3 9489 3244 Email
[email protected] Website www.verso.com.au While Verso Consulting Pty Ltd endeavours to provide reliable analysis and believes the material it presents is accurate, it will not be liable for any claim by any party acting on such information. © Verso Consulting Pty Ltd verso is a registered Australian Trade Mark (Registration No 1142831) verso consulting pty ltd ii Executive summary Background In rural WA many Shires report that older persons are being forced to move from their local communities or are possibly refusing appropriate services for fear of being ‘removed’ from their local community and ‘put into a home’. This, in some instances, means that older persons and their family carers move from Boddington with a loss of social capital within the local community resulting in negative economic impacts into the long term. For over ten years, the Boddington community and the Shire Council have sought to address the needs of older persons in the community. Steps taken have included exploring the option for a large scale residential development; this was curtailed when it became evident that a development of this scale would not be feasable. Through a process of research and consultation, it became clear that the concept of a smaller scale village of ILUs would be sustainable and therefore this model has been explored. The Shire prepared a Positive Ageing Strategy in 2006 that further emphasised the need for more affordable housing for older people, in close proximity to health services and community facilities.