The positive effect of in home care

To date, there has been little research investigating the link between in home care and support services, and extending people’s ability to remain in their homes. This lack of robust data has made it difficult to gain a true understanding of just what in home care means to our ageing loved ones.

We know that that most Australians want to age at home for as long as possible. In fact, according to a study commissioned by our great friends at, Apia, 97% of all Australian people aged 50 or over have a strong desire to maintain their independence by ‘ageing in place’.

We were thrilled to read about a study that has investigated this exact topic. Researchers from Macquarie University, Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research and Australian Institute of Health Innovation collaborated to examine the association between home-care services and entry into a permanent residential aged care facility.

The results, published in The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (JAMDA), were simply wonderful. It was found that:

• Every hour of home care service received per week associated with a 6% lower risk of entry into residential care
• The more hours of care services a person received, the lower the risk of residential care entry.

Importantly, the study also found that people who used a higher level of social support services (e.g. one-on-one companionship visits at home, assistance to attend community-based social events), in combination with domestic assistance and transport services, stayed in their homes for longer.

At Five Good Friends, this is what we are all about. We understand how important independence, companionship and social connections are for older people. Our unique model is designed to give people more hours of in home care. Because we’ve used technology to remove many of the overheads and administration costs of traditional in home care, people can access more of the help they need from qualified Helpers who are matched to their interests.

If you’d like to know more about home care help, get in touch with us or request a call back and we can answer all your questions.

Learn more: Understanding Government Funding