New cross‑setting framework to guide quality care for older Australians

With older Australians increasingly using multiple health and aged care services at once, the launch of a new national framework aims to ensure their care is assessed as a whole, rather than as isolated interactions.

Researchers from the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) Research Centre at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and Flinders University, have developed the National Framework for High Quality Person-Centred Care for Older People.

Launched on Monday by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care (ACAC), the framework aims to bring consistency to quality monitoring across primary care, hospitals, community services and residential aged care, as opposed to traditional quality frameworks that focus on single settings or broad population measures.

Chief investigator Professor Maria Inacio said the framework addresses long‑standing gaps in how Australia evaluates care for older people.

“For too long, quality monitoring has focused on individual parts of the system. This work recognises that people experience care as a whole, and that improving outcomes requires a coordinated, person-centred approach,” she said.

“This brings together the evidence and expertise needed to better understand how care is delivered to older Australians across the many settings they move between.”

The framework forms part of ACAC’s broader Quality Measurement Toolbox, which includes an online repository of quality indicators. It sets out three overarching goals:

• promoting autonomy, independence and wellbeing
• nurturing person‑centred care that respects preferences, cultural backgrounds and dignity of risk
• improving integration of high‑quality care across all settings older people access.

These goals are supported by guiding principles that define care as safe, effective, person‑centred, accessible and comprehensive.

Rather than listing isolated measures, the framework describes how these principles should be applied in practice. Care should prevent harm, achieve intended outcomes using evidence‑based approaches, respect individual preferences and values, be equitable and timely, and remain coordinated and holistic across the entire care continuum.

Researchers also identified key priority areas for monitoring care quality – including function, quality of life, cognitive health, access to care, consumer experience and mental wellbeing – and mapped these to scientifically robust quality indicators that can be used to track performance and guide improvement.

“This is about making sure that the care older people receive aligns with what matters most to them,” Professor Inacio said.

“By providing a shared, evidence-based approach to measuring quality, we can support providers, policymakers and the sector to identify where improvements are needed and track progress over time.”

ACAC said the framework will help create a shared understanding of what quality looks like across both aged care and healthcare settings, and will support national and international efforts to strengthen person‑centred, integrated care for older populations.

Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) chief Craig Gear, said the framework will help ensure reforms reflect the lived experience of older people.

“Older people don't experience aged care and health care as separate systems - they experience whether care is safe, respectful and responsive to their needs,” he said.

“This framework gives the sector a shared evidence-base to identify where reform needs to focus, so that older people's rights and dignity are reflected in the care they actually receive.”