This scholarly article by Australian academics proposes a total shift of approach away from a consumerist model of residential care.
Although it is true that a person will enter aged care with some degree of need for personal and clinical care services, this consumption of services does not account for the totality of the person.
The reduction of RAC residents to consumers has led to a sector in which a person's status and role as a member of social and ecological communities can be neglected. It has also contributed to a sector where even clinical care is substandard
The Royal Commission concluded that effectively overcoming systemic challenges and achieving the functional purpose of the sector requires a total shift of this philosophical approach.
This article proposes reframing RAC as communities within social and ecological communities, to shift away from dominant consumerist approaches to care.
Theories of social and environmental justice can then be applied to guide the development of the aged care sector, offering aged care providers and policy makers novel solutions to critical challenges identified by the Royal Commission.
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