The article reveals the inadequacy of nursing homes for young people. However, they are also inadequate for old people. I am 86 and dread the prospect of needing to go into a nursing home. I have been in nursing homes mainly to visit my mother. Many of them are simply storage facilities until the inmates die. If they are made adequate for old people they will also become adequate for young people. The problem is broader than not meeting the needs of young people. Nursing homes should be made adequate for people of all ages.

David f wrote: "Nursing homes should be made adequate for people of all ages."

Spot on.

The NDIS is integral but let's not forget that in addition, more accommodation services need to be built. Other transitional services are also a must, so that people with severe brain injuries can demonstrate their potential at their own pace before being forced into nursing homes. Nursing homes are not, and have never been, the right place for these people.

No young person should be forced to live in a nursing home. The NDIS will be a terrific step forward and to maximise the impact of the NDIS, now is the time for us as a society to address the need for suitable accommodation options for young people.

I unfortunately had the unenviable task of identifying a nursing home for my mother as her dementia became unmangageable. I looked at what initially seemed to be a considerable number of options for her however on closer scrutiny the number diminished due to factors such as security and cleanliness, let alone affordability. I ultimately found a resource that seemed to be ok and she settled in quite well until she was moved from her temporary accommodation within the facility to the permanent to be confronted by the behaviour of a young man with severe brain damage using the same common recreation area. His relentless screams were very unnerving for me and ten times worse I'm sure for my increasingly frail mother. The situation was further compounded by the nursing staff taking great delight in telling me that the brain damage was the direct result of a recreational drug overdose and that his behaviour would get worse. Just as i had few options for my mother, the young mans parents had similarly few options for their son. What do we do?

This research provides further evidence that young people shouldn't be forced to live in nursing homes because there is nowhere else for them.

Principle 9 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons states that:

‘Disabled persons have the right to live with their families or with foster parents and to participate in all social, creative or recreational activities. No disabled person shall be subjected, as far as his or her residence is concerned, to differential treatment other than that required by his or her condition or by the improvement which he or she may derive there from. If the stay of a person in a specialised establishment is indispensable, the environment and living conditions therein shall be as close as possible to those of the normal life of a person of his or her age.’

Australia formally ratified the convention in July 2008. The YPRAC initiative moved many young people out of nursing homes, however they continue to be admitted due to a lack of:
>slow stream recovery services
>alternative accommodation options for people with high and complex care needs.

This report is more evidence of why we urgently needs the NDIS and NIIS as well as an immediate and substantial funding commitment to build a range of accommodation options or people with disabilities

The evidence is overwhelming - young people should not be in nursing homes. Whilst the results of the Summer Foundation study are encouraging it's only the beginning, but there's so much more to do. To recap from the article.........
'the issue of young people in nursing homes is one clear reason Australia needs the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)'.