Moving to a Care Home: Key Steps, Support & Advice For a Smooth Transition

Archer Care
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Moving to a Care Home

What the next steps might look like

Making the decision to move into a retirement village and care home can be a big step, and finding the right level of care to suit your needs is so important. Here are a few tips to help make the journey a little smoother:

Involve your family and friends they can offer support and help you feel more confident in your choice.
Seek independent advice – talking to a trusted lawyer can help you understand all the details.
Chat with your GP or health professional – they’ll be able to guide you on the level of care that suits your health needs.
Talk with our village manager and clinical team – we’re here to answer your questions and help you find the best options to match your personal needs.

These are the three commonly used steps before the move to a care home

If you’re considering rest home level care, hospital care, or specialist dementia care, there are a few additional things to consider:

Step 1: NASC Needs Assessment

If you have an age-related disability that’s likely to last more than six months and makes daily tasks challenging, you may be eligible for a NASC needs assessment. This assessment looks at the support you need to live comfortably, considering your personal goals, available resources (like family and friends), and physical abilities. If you haven’t had this assessment yet, it can be requested by you, a family member, friend, GP, nurse, or carer. For more details on the process, you can download a copy of ‘Needs Assessment and Support Services for Older People – What You Need to Know’ from the Ministry of Health website.

Step 2: Obtaining a Subsidy

If you’ve been assessed by a NASC agency as needing aged care, you may be eligible for a residential care subsidy. WINZ (Work and Income New Zealand) will review your assets and income to determine how much you’ll need to contribute toward your care costs. For more information about the residential care subsidy, visit the WINZ website.

Step 3: Residential Admission Agreement

Once assessed as requiring rest home or hospital-level care, we’ll let you know right away if we have a place available at your level of care, or if there may be a short wait.

Archer ‘No Fees, Low Fees’

Our Archer Care Homes Standard Rooms are designed to ensure that they stay within the government’s rest home subsidy limit, so residents won’t need to pay extra room fees, and these rooms are readily available for new residents.

For those interested in additional features, our Premium Rooms offer added comforts, and we keep the fees intentionally competitive. (Availability is subject to the level of care needed and current occupancy.)

Let us know if you’d like to discuss any of these points further—we’re here to help make the process as smooth as possible for you.

Archer Care
Homes