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Help using the aged care home finder
The Aged Care Home Finder lets you find the Australian Government-funded aged care homes that best met your needs. The Aged Care Home Finder contains detailed information about more than 3,000 homes across Australia.
Using the Aged Care Home Finder usually involves the following steps:
- Work out what you need
- Search for homes
- View the details of individual homes
- Compare the homes that interest you the most
Work out what you need
There are a huge variety of different aged care homes in Australia, reflecting the diverse needs of the community. Aged Care Australia provides you with a number of ways to find the basic type of aged care you need to look for:- The Help With Aged Care Homes section of the website. This section provides a wide range of information about the types of care that aged care homes provide, what the processes are for entering an aged care home and the types of things you should think about.
- A list of the types of care This section provides an easy to use list of the types of care provided in aged care homes.
Search for homes
Once you have determined which type of homes you want to search for, visit the Aged Care Home Finder page. You can access this page by following the links on the left-hand side of pages in the Help With Aged Care Homes area. Once you are on the page you will need to enter the following:| Search by area | If you wish to find what homes are in a particular, enter the following information:
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Or | Search by name | If you know the name of the home you are looking for, or the organisation that runs it, enter the name (or a part of it) here. |
| And | ||||
| Type of care | You will almost certainly be searching for homes that can provide the care you need. Select it from this list. If you just want to get an idea of what is available select 'Any'. | |||
| Then select 'Go' | ||||
The following image shows a user searching for homes providing low-level care in Curtin in Canberra:
Advanced search
If you wish to fine-tune your search, for example to find homes that allow pets, you can use the 'advanced search' option. This option will show you a list of items, sorted by category, that you can use when searching. You can select one or more options and the site will only show the homes that provide what you have asked for. Please note that the more options you select the less likely it is there will be a particular home that provides everything you want.
The home listing
Once you have searched you will see a list of homes like the one in the following image:
The following table explains the information that is shown:
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| You searched for | Displays a summary of what you searched for. If you don't get what you expect, check that what you searched for here.. |
| # to # of # matches | Tells you how many matches there were for your search and lets you know which matches are currently being displayed. |
| Re-sort results by | You can change the order in which the homes are shown. Select an option from this list and select 'go'. |
| Results | Displays information about the homes that matched your search. The following information is displayed for each result:
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| Navigation | If there are more than 20 results for your search the system will only display the first 20 by default. You can use these links to view the other results, in groups of 20. |
View the details of homes
Once you have decided which homes to look at, select the name of the home. The website will display detailed information about the home as shown in the following image:
The following table explains the information that is shown:
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Contains the name of the home, including any alternative names the home goes by. |
| Map link | Selecting this link displays a map of the area around the home. |
| Brochure link | Selecting this link shows you how to get a copy of the brochure for the home. |
| Contact details | Contains the address, phone, fax, email address and web address of the service. |
| Images | If a home has provided photos a small version will be displayed. If you select the small version the site willdisplay a larger, more detailed version. |
| General information | This section can include the following information:
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| Detailed information | The detailed information about the home is organised into a number of categories. You can view the information in all categories by selecting 'Open all', or you can open up the categories that interest you by selecting the category name. |
Comparing homes
Aged Care Australia enables you to compare up to 5 homes side by side to help work out which is the best for you. From the home listing, select a number of homes and then select the 'compare' option. A new window will open with a list of basic information about the selected homes:
Customising the report
You can tailor the comparison report to your needs by adding extra items to the report:
To add items:
- Select the checkbox next to the items that interest you
- Select 'go'
- The items will now be added to your report
Saving your customisations
Once you have tailored the report to your needs you can save your selections and use them when you compare homes in the future. Simply select the 'Remember' link and your selection will be automatically applied in the future.