Residential care services for older people

What help is available?

Aged residential care services are available for older people (usually aged 65 and over) who are no longer able to live safely in their own home. Options include rest home care, dementia rest home care, long stay hospital care and specialist hospital facilities. In some cases, people under 65 with similar needs to older people may be cared for in aged residential care.

Aged residential care services provide care 24-hours a day including meals and accommodation, personal care and medical care. Generally the services aim to provide residents with a homelike environment, including individual bedrooms where residents can have their own belongings. Residents have access to community groups, leisure activities and opportunities to socialise and meet other people.

Who qualifies?

In most cases the person you support will be over the age of 65 (although usually people enter residential care in their late 70s or in their 80s). They will have had their needs assessed by their DHB's Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC) agency which will have determined their needs will best be met in residential care (see section ‘Who to talk to first' below). In some cases, residential care services may be available to people aged between 50 and 64 who have health and support needs arising from long-term conditions more commonly experienced by older people.

Who provides the service?

The services are supplied by providers who are certified to provide rest home or hospital care under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001, and who have an aged residential care contract with a District Health Board (DHB).

Who pays?

The person you support may qualify for a residential care subsidy depending on their financial circumstances. If they do, the DHB will help pay for their care.

If the person you support qualifies for a subsidy, they will have to contribute their New Zealand Superannuation towards their care. An income test will determine how much extra they will have to pay if they receive other income (e.g. from a private trust). If the DHB pays for their care, they will be paid an annual clothing allowance and a weekly personal allowance they can use to pay for their personal needs such as toiletries, magazines and stamps.

If the person you support doesn't qualify for a residential care subsidy, they will need to pay for their care up to a maximum contribution. This is equal to the price paid by the DHB for rest home level care in the area in which the person lives.

Who to talk to first

The first step is to contact your DHB's Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination agency (NASC). The person you support will require a needs assessment to be eligible for funded residential care.

To get a residential care subsidy, the person you support will need to apply to Work and Income for a Financial Means Assessment. This will take into account their income and assets - including any money or assets that have been gifted. The NASC will help you with this process.

You can find a list of NASCs at the Ministry of Health website or you can call the District Health Board or talk to your local hospital and ask to be put through to the NASC team for older people.

You can read more about needs assessment here.

Information is also available in the Ministry of Health publication "Looking at Long-term Residential Care in a Rest Home or Hospital - What you need to know". You can read this here.

Please note the booklet will be updated in 2010.

If you get stuck

In the first instance, you should talk to your local NASC. If this doesn't work, you can contact:

  • your local District Health Board and ask for the Health of Older People Portfolio Manager. You can find the phone number for your District Health Board in the front of your phone book. 
  • Specialised Processing Services, Work and Income (formerly the Residential Care Subsidy Unit) 0800 999 727
  • Seniorline (formerly Residential Care Line) 0800 737 777.