BED BLOCK P3: With Tanya Southworth - STARS unblocking hospital beds one conversation at a time

In our third episode focusing on “Bed Block,” Nicky is shocked to learn that older people admitted to hospital are staying, on average, over 16 times longer than younger people. This is “Bed Block,” where people no longer in need of acute care are unable to leave the hospital due to a lack of availability of residential care or not having the supports at home to meet their needs.

In this episode, Nicky talks with Tanya Southworth, the Coordinator of the Supported Transition Assistance Response Scheme (STARS). STARS is a new voluntary program that is seeing great success in the Illawarra Health system, with referrals supporting older people to move out of hospital into suitable aged care options, supporting recovery and quality of life for the older person, and creating capacity in the hospital system. Tanya discusses the insights her dedicated group of specialist aged care volunteers have gained from their work with older people who are ‘Bed Blocked’ in hospital, and their families.

Already, through the program, Tanya has managed to support 78% of those people referred to STARS to transition out of the hospital system. She credits this success to developing an understanding of the older people awaiting appropriate care, through conversation, and understanding the barriers to discharge. She shares some of the misapprehensions and concerns both older people and their families have about moving into residential services and reveals the real-life impacts that well-informed volunteers can have. Tanya also shares strategies we can all put into place to ensure our wishes are known and respected as we move into older age.

In our third episode focusing on “Bed Block,” Nicky is shocked to learn that older people admitted to hospital are staying, on average, over 16 times longer than younger people. This is “Bed Block,” where people no longer in need of acute care are unable to leave the hospital due to a lack of availability of residential care or not having the supports at home to meet their needs.

In this episode, Nicky talks with Tanya Southworth, the Coordinator of the Supported Transition Assistance Response Scheme (STARS). STARS is a new voluntary program that is seeing great success in the Illawarra Health system, with referrals supporting older people to move out of hospital into suitable aged care options, supporting recovery and quality of life for the older person, and creating capacity in the hospital system. Tanya discusses the insights her dedicated group of specialist aged care volunteers have gained from their work with older people who are ‘Bed Blocked’ in hospital, and their families.

Already, through the program, Tanya has managed to support 78% of those people referred to STARS to transition out of the hospital system. She credits this success to developing an understanding of the older people awaiting appropriate care, through conversation, and understanding the barriers to discharge. She shares some of the misapprehensions and concerns both older people and their families have about moving into residential services and reveals the real-life impacts that well-informed volunteers can have. Tanya also shares strategies we can all put into place to ensure our wishes are known and respected as we move into older age.

Music Credit:
"Jarvic 8" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses

Acknowledgement of Country

Community Industry Group' podcast is recorded on beautiful Dharawal Country, and we acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, and their Elders.

We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture, the world’s oldest living culture, and the contribution they make to the life of this region and our country.

We acknowledge that we live and work on Aboriginal land and recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of Aborigin