Approving for a community aged care package: experiences and perceptions of six metropolitan aged care assessment service teams.

Aim: To establish whether the experiences and perceptions of different metropolitan Aged Care Assessment Service (ACAS) teams when approving people for Community Aged Care Packages (CACPs) were similar.

Methods: Six semi-structured 30-minute group interviews were completed.

Results: ACAS team approval processes for CACPs were similar. The primary criterion for approval was need for case management. Many factors, however, impinged on the approval process. Barriers to making approvals included long waiting times, a lack of confidence in the priority rating system, and consideration of whether a person was better off with Home and Community Care services because of the impact of the Australian Government's Cost Recovery policy.

Conclusion: ACAS teams have competing considerations when approving a person for a CACP. In particular, structural barriers, such as cost recovery policies, can have a significant negative impact on approval decisions.