Counselling + Aged Care

The article in the Australian Ageing Agenda (https://www.australianageingagenda.com.au/research/call-to-integrate-counselling-services-into-aged-care-homes/ ) suggests the need for integration of counselling or mental health support in future residential aged care models. The model would offer easy access referral pathways and choices about other mental health services.

While supportive of MH services in residential care, I would argue for support of the same across any care space, where people access aged care services. However, I must make a point out that Counsellors are not treated in the same vein as other allied health professionals who have greater agency about their operation. They can operate as stand-alone or within an organisation. Counsellors can only operate through an organisation and most often are subsumed by prioritisation of occupations such as social workers and psychologists or MH OT. If Allied Health practitioners have a Medicare #, well they hit gold!