The Restorative Care Pathway is a short-term programme under the Australian Government’s Support at Home programme. It provides up to 16 weeks of intensive allied health and nursing support to help older adults maintain or regain function after illness, injury or a hospital stay.
NutriBlooms Accredited Practising Dietitians provide the dietetic component, working alongside your restorative care team and your registered provider.
- ✓ Home visits, clinic appointments and telehealth across Melbourne and Australia-wide
- ✓ Six Melbourne clinics and a team of eight Accredited Practising Dietitians
- ✓ Experience with malnutrition, frailty, sarcopenia and recovery after hospitalisation
- ✓ Progress reports, case conferencing and exit planning for your restorative care team
At a glance
| How long | Up to 16 weeks per episode |
| Funding | Around $6,000 per episode — up to about $12,000 if an additional unit is approved |
| How to access it | Through your registered Support at Home provider, as part of an approved goal plan |
| Where we see you | In your home, at six Melbourne clinics, or by telehealth |
| Who can refer | Registered Support at Home and Restorative Care Pathway providers |
On this page
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What is the Restorative Care Pathway?
The Restorative Care Pathway replaced the former Short-Term Restorative Care programme on 1 November 2025. It is designed for older adults who may benefit from a period of targeted, intensive support — typically after an illness, a fall, surgery or a decline in day-to-day function.
Rather than simply completing tasks on the participant’s behalf, restorative care focuses on working with the person to rebuild skills, confidence and independence. Each participant identifies goals based on their assessed needs, and a multidisciplinary team delivers services aimed at those goals across an episode of up to 16 consecutive weeks.
You can read the Department of Health guidance on the Restorative Care Pathway for the full programme detail.
What the pathway may help an older person work towards
- Regaining strength following illness, surgery or hospitalisation
- Maintaining independence with shopping, cooking and eating
- Reducing the risk of further functional decline
- Improving energy for daily activities
- Managing frailty, sarcopenia or unintentional weight loss
- Building confidence to participate in physical rehabilitation
- Managing chronic conditions that affect nutrition
- Continuing to live safely at home
Why nutrition matters in restorative care
Restorative care asks a lot of the body. Physiotherapy, exercise physiology and occupational therapy all depend on the participant having enough energy and protein to take part — and to rebuild muscle afterwards. When intake is low, progress in the rest of the programme is often slower than it needs to be.
Nutrition support during a restorative care episode can play a role in:
- Maintaining energy levels for rehabilitation and daily tasks
- Supporting muscle strength and reducing further muscle loss
- Addressing malnutrition and unintentional weight loss
- Supporting recovery after illness or surgery
- Maintaining adequate hydration
- Managing chronic health conditions that affect function
- Supporting participation in physical and social activities
- Supporting longer-term independence once the episode ends
Regular nutrition screening, individualised advice and close collaboration between the participant, the dietitian and the wider care team are all recognised as important parts of restorative care.
How a NutriBlooms dietitian can help
An Accredited Practising Dietitian assesses the nutrition-related barriers that may be affecting a participant’s strength, function and independence — then works with them, and with the rest of the team, on practical strategies to address them.
Nutrition and malnutrition assessment
The initial assessment looks at the whole picture, not just what is on the plate:
- Appetite and food intake
- Recent weight loss or weight changes
- Signs of malnutrition or nutrition risk
- Muscle loss and sarcopenia risk
- Hydration
- Ability to shop, prepare food and eat independently
- Medical conditions affecting nutrition
- Medications and supplements
- Chewing or swallowing concerns
- Cultural, religious and personal food preferences
- Access to suitable food and meal services
Ongoing screening and monitoring help identify changes early, so the nutrition plan can be adjusted during the episode rather than after it.
A personalised nutrition plan
Depending on what the assessment finds, your dietitian may develop strategies to:
- Increase energy and protein intake
- Support weight restoration or weight maintenance
- Improve meal and snack structure across the day
- Improve hydration
- Introduce suitable high-protein foods that fit existing habits
- Recommend oral nutrition supplements where clinically appropriate
- Adapt meals for reduced appetite, fatigue or difficulty cooking
- Support diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease or gastrointestinal conditions
- Accommodate cultural preferences and familiar foods
- Coordinate meal-delivery or food-access options where required
Recommendations are individualised, culturally appropriate and aligned with the participant’s health and functional goals.
Supporting strength and physical rehabilitation
Nutrition and physical rehabilitation work best together. A physiotherapist may prescribe resistance exercises to build strength, while the dietitian works on the energy and protein intake needed to support muscle maintenance and recovery. For people experiencing frailty, sarcopenia or multiple chronic conditions, combining physical activity with nutrition support is a well-established approach.
Chronic disease nutrition support
Many participants are managing conditions that directly affect their function and independence. Your dietitian can provide nutrition support for:
- Diabetes and unstable blood glucose levels
- Cardiovascular disease
- High cholesterol
- Hypertension
- Chronic kidney disease
- Constipation and other gastrointestinal symptoms
- Reduced appetite
- Frailty and sarcopenia
- Malnutrition
- Nutrition following illness or surgery
The aim is to adapt recommendations to clinical needs without unnecessarily restricting intake or compromising nutritional adequacy — an important balance in older adults, where over-restriction can do more harm than good.
Swallowing and texture-modified nutrition
Where swallowing difficulties are suspected or confirmed, your dietitian works closely with a speech pathologist and the participant’s medical team. Dietetic support may include:
- Keeping texture-modified meals nutritionally adequate
- Improving protein and energy intake within the recommended texture
- Hydration strategies
- Oral nutrition supplements where appropriate
- Family and carer education
- Monitoring weight and nutritional status
- Implementing the speech pathologist’s recommendations
Your action plan and pathway
Every participant leaves the first consultation with a written action plan. It sets out agreed, practical objectives, the goals and milestones you and your dietitian have agreed together, and a defined pathway — what to focus on first, what comes next, and how ongoing support is structured across the episode.
That plan is shared with the participant, family and carers, and with the restorative care provider, so everyone is working from the same document. It is reviewed and adjusted at each subsequent session rather than set once and left alone.
How nutrition goals connect to restorative care goals
A nutrition goal is rarely just “eat more” or “gain weight”. More often, nutrition is the foundation that makes a broader functional goal achievable:
| The participant’s goal | How the dietitian may help |
|---|---|
| “I want enough strength to shower and dress independently.” | Improve protein and energy intake to support muscle strength alongside physical rehabilitation. |
| “I want to return to gardening.” | Address low appetite, hydration and intake so there is enough energy to participate safely. |
| “I want to cook my own meals again.” | Develop simple meal options and meal planning, working with occupational therapy on safe kitchen activity. |
| “I want to recover after leaving hospital.” | Assess weight loss, appetite and nutritional gaps, and build a recovery-focused nutrition plan. |
| “I want to walk outside without becoming exhausted.” | Improve energy intake, hydration and meal timing alongside physiotherapy or exercise physiology. |
| “I want to manage my diabetes and stay independent.” | Develop a practical diabetes nutrition plan that supports steadier blood glucose while keeping intake adequate. |
| “I want to stop losing weight.” | Identify the cause of reduced intake and introduce higher-energy, higher-protein meals, snacks and supplements where appropriate. |
| “I want to eat safely and confidently.” | Work with speech pathology so texture-modified meals are safe, enjoyable and nutritionally adequate. |
| “I want to keep eating culturally familiar meals with my family.” | Adapt recommendations to the participant’s culture, preferences and household meals. |
| “I want enough energy to attend community activities.” | Improve meal structure, hydration and overall nutrition to support participation in meaningful social activities. |
What dietetic support across 16 weeks involves
An episode runs for up to 16 weeks, but that does not mean 16 dietitian appointments. The number and timing of sessions depend on the participant’s goals, their nutrition risk, the complexity of their medical conditions, what other team members are providing, the approved goal plan and budget, and how often clinical monitoring is genuinely required.
A typical schedule involves around four to six consultations across the episode. The outline below is indicative — your dietitian will propose a schedule that fits the goal plan.
Week 1 — Comprehensive initial assessment
Usually 60 minutes. This session may cover:
- Medical and social history
- Weight and weight-change assessment
- Malnutrition and sarcopenia screening
- Dietary intake and appetite assessment
- Hydration review
- Meal preparation and food access
- Supplement review
- Discussion of the participant’s restorative goals
- Initial nutrition strategies
A written nutrition plan and recommendations are then provided to the participant, family, carers and the restorative care team.
Week 2 or 3 — Early implementation review
Usually 45 minutes, plus additional time for reporting to the care team. This session may include:
- Checking whether recommendations have been put in place
- Reviewing tolerance of meals or supplements
- Addressing barriers that have come up
- Adjusting meal timing, portions or food choices
- Providing further education
- Communicating with the restorative care partner or other clinicians
Weeks 4 to 6 — Progress review
Usually 45 minutes, plus reporting time. Your dietitian may review:
- Weight and nutritional status
- Appetite
- Energy and protein intake
- Hydration
- Progress towards the functional goal
- Participation in physiotherapy or exercise
- Relevant clinical indicators, such as blood glucose
- Whether the nutrition plan needs adjusting
Weeks 8 to 10 — Mid-programme review
Usually 45 minutes, plus reporting time. This session tends to focus on:
- Whether the nutrition strategies are becoming sustainable
- Progress with independence around food and meals
- Reducing reliance on supplements where appropriate
- Further family or carer education
- Adjusting the plan in response to changes in health or function
- Multidisciplinary case discussion
Weeks 14 to 16 — Final review and transition plan
Usually 60 minutes, plus a maintenance plan and final report. The last session may include:
- Reassessment of nutritional status
- Review of progress towards goals
- Comparison with baseline measurements
- Long-term meal and hydration strategies
- Supplement recommendations
- Relapse-prevention strategies
- Discharge recommendations
- Referrals for ongoing support where required
- A final report for the restorative care provider
Exit planning starts early rather than in the last fortnight, so the strategies that helped during the episode are more likely to hold afterwards.
When more intensive support may be needed
Some participants require more frequent monitoring — particularly where there is:
- Severe or rapidly progressing weight loss
- Diagnosed or suspected malnutrition
- Very poor oral intake
- Recent hospitalisation
- Pressure injuries or delayed wound healing
- Significant frailty or sarcopenia
- Newly commenced oral nutrition supplements
- Complex diabetes or kidney disease
- Swallowing difficulties
- Repeated dehydration
- Significant changes in medical condition
In these situations appointments may begin weekly or fortnightly, then reduce as things stabilise.
Working with your multidisciplinary team
Restorative care is delivered by a team assembled around the participant’s needs and goals. Depending on the goal plan, that team may include dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, nurses, speech pathologists, pharmacists, podiatrists, social workers, allied health assistants, general practitioners and medical practitioners — alongside carers and family members.
Regular communication between team members helps keep nutrition, physical activity, medical care and functional goals aligned rather than pulling in different directions. NutriBlooms dietitians can take part in:
- Multidisciplinary case conferences
- Goal-plan reviews
- Communication with the restorative care partner
- Written progress reports
- Liaison with GPs and other allied health practitioners
- Participant, family and carer education
- Final outcome and discharge reporting
Where a presentation is complex, our in-house case conferencing means your dietitian can bring in the Principal Dietitian or a colleague for a same-week second opinion — rather than the participant waiting weeks for another referral inside a 16-week window.
Who may benefit from dietetic restorative care?
Dietetic involvement may be appropriate for an older adult experiencing:
- Unintentional weight loss
- Reduced appetite
- Malnutrition risk
- Frailty
- Muscle loss or reduced strength
- Difficulty preparing meals
- Fatigue affecting food intake
- Reduced intake following illness, surgery or hospitalisation
- Dehydration
- Diabetes or other chronic disease affecting function
- Difficulty accessing appropriate meals
- Chewing or swallowing difficulties
- Increased reliance on family or carers for food and meals
- Reduced confidence cooking, shopping or eating independently
Eligibility for the Restorative Care Pathway is determined through an aged care assessment. The participant needs goals that are likely to improve through short-term, intensive clinical intervention, and a willingness to participate actively in the programme.
Funding and referrals
A Restorative Care Pathway episode provides a funding unit of around $6,000 for up to 16 weeks of intensive services. For eligible participants an additional unit may be approved, providing up to approximately $12,000 for the episode. This funding sits separately from any ongoing Support at Home quarterly budget.
That funding supports the participant’s whole multidisciplinary programme — it is not allocated exclusively to dietetics. NutriBlooms accepts referrals from registered Support at Home and Restorative Care Pathway providers for the approved dietetic component of a goal plan.
Services available under a goal plan
- In-home consultations
- Clinic appointments across our six Melbourne locations
- Telehealth appointments
- Nutrition assessment and planning
- Progress reviews
- Multidisciplinary case conferences
- Family and carer education
- Clinical reports and exit recommendations
Approval for the service, the number of sessions and billable activities should be confirmed with the participant’s registered provider before appointments commence.
Refer a participant to NutriBlooms
Registered Support at Home providers and restorative care partners can contact us to discuss participant goals, nutrition risks and clinical priorities, the proposed number and frequency of consultations, home visit, clinic or telehealth options, reporting requirements, case conferencing, and service agreements and invoicing.
Phone: 0431 189 792
Email: info@nutriblooms.com.au
Important note about our role
NutriBlooms provides allied health dietetic services within the Restorative Care Pathway in collaboration with the participant’s registered aged care provider.
NutriBlooms does not independently approve Restorative Care Pathway eligibility or control the participant’s overall restorative care funding. Eligibility, goal-plan approval, care coordination and funding management remain the responsibility of the registered Support at Home provider.
Why providers and families choose NutriBlooms
A team, not a sole practitioner
NutriBlooms is led by Racha Slim, Founder and Principal Dietitian, and brings together eight Accredited Practising Dietitians with substantial experience across malnutrition, frailty, chronic disease, kidney disease, diabetes and paediatric to older-adult nutrition.
Because the team works together in-clinic, a complex case can be discussed with the Principal Dietitian in the same week — which matters when an episode is capped at 16 weeks. Services are delivered from six Melbourne clinics, in participants’ homes, and via telehealth across Australia.
Verified third-party recognition
NutriBlooms received the following awards in 2025:
- ✓ Dietitians Australia and Griffith University Quality in Primary Care Award
- ✓ Local Business Award Winner – Outstanding Health Improvement Services
- ✓ Quality Business Award Winner – Quality Rating Over 95%
Explore related services
Restorative care is one part of how we support older adults at home. You may also want to read about:
- Home Care & Support at Home dietitian services — ongoing dietetic support outside a restorative care episode
- Menu review services — for aged care and home care providers reviewing their menus
- NDIS dietitian services — clinical, telehealth and home visit consultations for NDIS participants
- Chronic disease management — diabetes, heart health, kidney disease and more
Frequently asked questions
No. Home Care Packages and the former Short-Term Restorative Care programme were replaced by the Support at Home programme on 1 November 2025. The Restorative Care Pathway is a separate, short-term pathway within Support at Home. It has its own funding, which sits apart from any ongoing Support at Home quarterly budget, and it runs for a defined episode of up to 16 weeks.
Yes. Dietetic services under the pathway are arranged through your registered Support at Home or restorative care provider as part of your approved goal plan. Your provider, or a member of your restorative care team, can contact NutriBlooms directly to discuss the dietetic component before appointments begin.
It depends on your goals, your nutrition risk, the complexity of your medical conditions and what your approved goal plan and budget allow. A typical schedule involves around four to six consultations across an episode. Where nutrition risk is higher, appointments may begin weekly or fortnightly and reduce in frequency as things stabilise.
Home visits are available, and they are often the most practical option during restorative care because your dietitian can see your kitchen, food storage and daily routine. Clinic appointments across our six Melbourne locations and telehealth consultations are also available, and many participants use a combination across an episode.
No. Eligibility is determined through an aged care assessment, and your registered Support at Home provider is responsible for coordinating your goal plan, approving services and managing the pathway funding. NutriBlooms provides the dietetic services within that plan; we do not approve eligibility or control the funding.
There are other ways to access dietetic care. If you have a chronic condition, your GP may refer you under a GP Chronic Condition Management Plan, which replaced GP Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements from 1 July 2025. NutriBlooms is not a bulk-billing clinic, so Medicare pays a rebate and a gap fee applies. Private health extras, NDIS, DVA and self-funded appointments are also available.
Talk to us about restorative care nutrition
Whether you are a registered Support at Home provider planning a goal plan, or a family member wondering whether nutrition should be part of a loved one’s restorative care episode, we are happy to talk it through. Home visits, clinic appointments across six Melbourne locations and telehealth are all available.