HammondCare has launched a national campaign committing to help with the increasingly complex health needs of Australia’s aging population as longer life brings chronic health conditions, rising dementia incidence and stretched palliative care.

CEO Andrew Thorburn said HammondCare - which seeks to lead in complex care nationally, specialising in dementia and palliative care - is sending a strong message that the independent not-for-profit can help in the most challenging of care circumstances.

“We want to say that HammondCare is the place to come to when care becomes difficult or complex,” Mr Thorburn said.

He said living longer was a great dividend from improvements in healthcare and lifestyle, but an older population is also leading to demands for care support over a longer period on a scale not seen in the past, sometimes leaving carers and families desperate for help.

The “We do” campaign, headlined by 30 second and 60 second TV commercials, differentiates HammondCare as the experts at the complex end of care that seeks to work with families and carers with a range of home care, residential aged care, dementia and palliative services.

HammondCare team members are featured in the commercials, alongside actors who play the clients and their families, as the “We do” theme is spelled out in different care scenarios as “We do complicated”, “We do unexpected” and “We do complex”.

Mr Thorburn said the “We do” commitment is in line with HammondCare’s Mission to improve the quality of life for people in need regardless of their circumstances and objectives, as outlined in HammondCare’s recent Next Chapter strategic direction.

To illustrate an extreme example of care complexity, Mr Thorburn spoke of a resident, living with vascular dementia, who previously was in a public hospital for 120 days.

There were Code Black incidents from Behaviours and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), made worse by language barriers, falls, fractures and strokes. No aged care home would take him, and his family were frustrated at a lack of options.

The man was found a place at HammondCare Cardiff Specialist Dementia Care Program unit where his antipsychotic medications and previously undiagnosed pain were managed and his BPSD reduced. He was then able to return to regular aged care.

“Like in this man’s situation, our ambition is to say yes to those who have been told no because their needs are complex,” Mr Thorburn said.

HammondCare Chief Marketing Officer Victoria Hayman said the “We do” campaign sought to empathise with the journey of the older person, their family and care network as they search for answers in the aged care system.

“At the complex end of care, it’s often the adult child or partner who needs to make decisions about care for their loved one,” Ms Hayman said.

She said the “We do” campaign recognises that for these people, who are already feeling stretched and facing the daunting nature of the aged care system, they are looking for help at a crisis time in their lives.

It also seeks to convey HammondCare’s ability to provide aged care, dementia care and palliative care in a context that meets individual needs – in the home, residential aged care or hospital – “at your place, our place, any place”.

The campaign concept was developed by the HammondCare creative team, led by Head of Creative Mike Barry, with production by Cadence Media.

There are numerous indicators of growing aged care complexity as the number of people reaching 85 and over increase. More than half of all people entering residential care are arriving with a high care rating for daily living, cognition and behaviour, compared to a third in 2013.

With Australians staying at home longer, there are challenges meeting demand for higher-level Home Care Packages, soon to be called Home Support Packages. An estimated 433,300 Australians live with dementia – and it will soon be Australia’s leading cause of death – with this figure expected to grow to 812,500 by 2054.

There is also a hospital bed block crisis as older people in wards, often with dementia, struggle to find an aged care place with potential providers. About 62 per cent of the 400 people who die each day are not getting palliative care.