Capturing and Validating Aged Care Customer Journeys

The industry regulator, the Australian Care Quality and Safety Commission, is a federal body charged with improving and upholding the standard of care for older Australians. Among other things, the ACQSC helps aged-care providers to understand and meet their obligations and it investigates complaints from aged-care customers and their relatives. The ACQSC wants to improve its service experience for both aged-care customers and aged-care providers. This brief was the definition of a wicked problem. Australia’s aged-care system is fiendishly difficult to navigate for both groups. Public confidence is low following the 2022 Royal Commission into Aged Care.

PG and ACQSC collaborated to visualise the customer journey to improve their service. PG consulted with staff, aged care providers, and customers. The workshop sessions were designed to suit participants with low levels of digital literacy and other mitigating factors, such as vision or hearing impairments. PG researchers interviewed aged care recipients, family members, friends, community members, and organisations to gain a deeper understanding of the customer experience. PG delivered several artifacts, including Personas, a Current State Service Blueprint, a Current State Consumer Journey map, a Future State Service Blueprint, and Principles, along with a communication strategy for the channels.

This was the first time the ACQSC and its customers had undergone a process to truly understand the customer’s experience when engaging with aged care services. The needs of people seeking aged care are, or course, highly specific. This means there are almost endless variations in the customer journey. Still, through the research it was possible to identify common routes and pain points - both internally for ACQSC teams and also for customers. This project uncovered a complex but clear picture of the ways in which different players in the ecosystem interact and influence one another.

As the Royal Commission uncovered, the aged-care sector is fraught and flawed. With Australia’s ageing population, it is coming under more and more strain and demand. The aged-care system is notoriously difficult to navigate. (It involves all three levels of government and overlaps at many points with state-based health services). Following the Royal Commission into Aged Care, the ACQSC has new powers and standards to uphold, which means that internal teams are adjusting to new circumstances. Providers spoke of shifting goal posts. In this context, there’s an urgent need for thoughtful service design throughout the whole aged-care sector. Human-centred service design is the starting point for providing better care services and enhancing public confidence in the sector.