Bridging the Gap in Support at Home Nutrition

The Challenge in Aged Care Nutrition

Malnutrition affects nearly half of older Australians living at home, yet access to effective clinical nutrition support remains inconsistent. For many seniors, the ongoing cost of nutrition support and specialised nutrition products is prohibitive — particularly for those on limited or fixed incomes. Even when clinical need is clear, cost pressures frequently lead to under-utilisation, early discontinuation, or complete failure of nutrition support. The Support at Home program is designed to address this by funding clinically appropriate nutrition support. In practice, however, many seniors struggle to navigate eligibility requirements, documentation processes, and provider systems. Funding that exists is often difficult to access, delayed, or inconsistently applied.

For dietitians, these challenges are typically systemic rather than clinical:

• Administrative complexity slows implementation and follow-through
• Caseload complexity makes prioritisation time-intensive
• Eligibility uncertainty creates hesitation and delays

Eat Well Health addresses this gap by simplifying access to funded nutrition support within the Support at Home framework — without cost becoming a barrier.

How Your Clients Benefit

Support at Home funding makes higher-quality nutrition support available to seniors who would otherwise be unable to afford it. However, challenges accessing funded support often prevent clients from receiving that care consistently.

The Eat Well Health model removes these barriers so clients can access support when it is clinically indicated.

• $0 out-of-pocket access when supplied as part of a dietitian-led clinical service
• Clearer access pathways through streamlined documentation and provider communication
• Defensible eligibility positioning as a clinical nutrition intervention
• Improved adherence when cost and access barriers are removed

How We Can Work Together

Dietitians engage with Eat Well Health by registering on our secure online portal. This enables you to support your clients to access funded nutrition support through their Support at Home package — without requiring the client to navigate eligibility processes themselves.

Through the portal, you can:

• Register clients so nutrition support is linked directly, through their provider, to their Support at Home funding
• Upload your clinical recommendation for Eat Well Health nutrition support products
• Ensure recommendations are documented as part of a dietitian-led clinical service

Where a client is already under your care, Eat Well Health supports — not duplicates — your clinical judgement. Uploading your recommendation directly removes delays and prevents clinically appropriate care from stalling due to system or process constraints.

Nutrition Support Products Designed for Older Adults

At the centre of the Eat Well Health model is a small range of ready-to-use nutrition support shakes designed by dietitians, for the nutritional needs of older adults living at home.

These products are nutrition shakes intended to complement — not replace — food-based strategies where intake is insufficient, appetite is reduced, or requirements are difficult to meet through diet alone. Dietitians decide if and when these products are appropriate based on individual client need.

Funding and Eligibility

Eat Well Health nutrition support products are formulated to meet nutrition eligibility and audit expectations under the Support at Home guidelines when supplied as part of a documented dietitian-led clinical service.

Practice Growth Opportunities (Optional)

Eat Well Health is focused first and foremost on improving access to nutrition support for seniors.

As our nutrition screening tool is used more widely, it will identify more seniors who would benefit from individual dietetic support. This reflects what is already well understood in the sector — that a significant proportion of older adults are at risk of malnutrition or suboptimal intake, and that access to timely dietitian support is often limited.

Our aim is to ensure that when additional support is clinically indicated, seniors can access it in the most practical and accessible way. Where appropriate, Eat Well Health will act as a conduit to help connect seniors and providers with accredited dietitians.

Optional opportunities may include:

• Website listing for referrals
• Future telehealth opportunities as demand emerges

Eat Well Health does not aim to compete with dietitians.

Get Started

You remain fully independent in your clinical judgement.

Eat Well Health provides the infrastructure that enables your recommendations to be implemented consistently.