The Southern District Health Board is to seek a provider for a dementia daycare service, a report to today's disability and public health committee meeting in Dunedin says.
After consulting the sector, the DHB had framed its requirements and would soon release a request for a proposal, a report from portfolio manager Leanne Illingworth says.
"The DHB has completed a consultation exercise regarding the development of specific dementia daycare services.
"Consultation has included discussions on the level of need for dedicated dementia daycare services across the district, referral processes, location of services, and aspects of service delivery to ensure effective, quality activity programmes are developed," the report said.
Also, the DHB was developing a new funding model to suit its planned new approach to home-based support services for older people.
The work is part of moves to better support elderly people in the community.
The changes would see a case management model introduced, and better links formed between care providers, GPs and allied health workers.
Home-based support services were also listed for discussion in the public-excluded section of today's meeting, with the DHB citing commercial sensitivity.
A financial report to the meeting revealed that year-to-date spending on rest-homes was $1.1 million over budget, while hospital-level residential care was $1 million over budget.
Home support (housework) and carer support (personal care) had cost less than expected in the year to date, by $536,000 and $169,000 respectively.
