Kate was 34 when she went to live in aged care. She was there for 15 months. 

Kate was diagnosed with MS in 1995, she was in her early 30s and a kindergarten teacher.  She soon had to give that up and her health deteriorated as her MS progressed. After surgery, Kate was unable to return home and spent 3 months in hospital. She describes when a case worker came into the hospital 1 day to say excitedly: “You can go, we’ve found you a place to live.” They never told her it was a nursing home and it wasn’t until she got there that she realised.

“When that nursing home door shut behind me I felt like all the colour left my life.”

After 15 months, Kate moved to supported accommodation. Kate had been institutionalised and it took her time to learn to make her own decisions again.

“Ask me now if I would go to an aged care or if I wanted to go to a cemetery, I’ll take the cemetery everytime. Because that’s what I thought aged care was heaven’s waiting room.”

Read and watch more stories from young people who lived in aged care