Have you heard about Short-Term Restorative Care?

Ask yourself, would you rather prevent a problem from happening or get a nasty surprise and deal with the ongoing issues indefinitely?

I hope you chose prevention because there’s a mountain of evidence that short-term, intensive therapy programs, when delivered in a purposeful, holistic way, can have significant physical and mental health benefits for older adults. 

One of them is the Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) program, an Australian Government initiative that aims to reverse and/or slow the functional decline of older adults, intervening before a life-changing event such as a fall and/or an extended hospitalisation.

The program allows for physically, socially and mentally engaging services that must align with the client’s goals and needs, and is supported by the increasing evidence that exercise in later life improves health & wellness and prolong independence.

Delivered as an eight week program, nationally there are 2,278 STRC packages and the potential for over 14,800 older Australians per year to be engaged. Southern Cross Care holds 23 of these packages (150 people per year) across SA and the NT.

But the big difference with us is, we align our STRC with the undeniable evidence that exercise and therapies, delivered by a multidisciplinary allied health team, can prolong increased physical, social and mental wellbeing and independence and delay the progression of functional decline.

Our mantra is ‘Health for all’ and in brief, our STRC care plans are exercise-focused with services per week increasing as the client's exercise tolerance increases. And our stats back it up, with a recent evaluation of participation showing that Southern Cross Care STRC clients experience, on average, a 47% increase in functional wellbeing, and an improvement in their mental and self-rated health across the eight week program. Our approach shows that the client benefits are maximised, ensuring their push back on disability, prolonging their mobility, independence and lifestyle choices.