Sedative medications and restraint belts are too often given to aged care residents with dementia to stop them wandering, prevent falls, or manage "difficult" behaviour.
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Articles on Aged care
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Creative arts therapies allow people with dementia to express joy and sadness through painting, dance, music and drama.
The aged care royal commission begins hearing evidence today about the quality of care in nursing homes. These 10 charts show how the current system works and the challenges it faces.
Older generations are increasingly more connected, but those living in aged care continue to experience a digital divide.
This week the aged care royal commission heard evidence of long waits for home care, poorly trained staff and high fees. These 10 charts explain how the system works and why it's under such pressure.
If you don't plan for your aged care and make your wishes known, you may be admitted to a hospital or aged care facility when something goes wrong. That's where most Australians end up dying.
An elderly lady needs to change the time a carer visits to help her shower. The reality of today's market-driven home care system means she has to call a centralised 1800 number to arrange this.
The government will keep increasing the number of subsidised home care services, but it needs to find the right funding balance for the system to remain sustainable.
Antipsychotic drugs are often used to "chemically restrain" aged care residents and control their behaviour. The system needs to change – but lessons from the US tell us it's not going to be easy.
Home care packages are a viable alternative to residential aged care for many older Australians. But the process to secure these packages can be long and complicated.
New regulations to stop the use of physical restraint on the elderly recognise a serious problem in our aged care system. But in order to really fix this issue, we need to address what's causing it.
By the time the aged care royal commission's recommendations lead to improvements in our nursing homes, four cohorts of residents will have died. Here's why.
The Conversation played host to really important new ideas in 2018. Some will take years to develop. Others will never come to fruition. But they're important.
Eliminating sexual assault in nursing homes is a major challenge which starts with acknowledging it exists and recognising the scale of this abuse.
The income within super funds is poorly taxed. Taxing it better could properly fund aged care.
It's easy to get excited about the potential for robots to help care for the sick, injured and elderly, but we need the right regulations in place to deal with issues as they emerge.
Andrew Giles on the growing issue of loneliness
CC BY30.6 MB (download)
Ahead of the release of the most comprehensive data on loneliness in Australia, by the Australian Psychologists Society, Labor frontbencher Andrew Giles speaks about this "contagious phenomenon".
The biggest system failure in aged care is staffing. We don't need to wait until the royal commission is over to fix it – this can be done now.
The Conversation asked readers how they would want a loved one to be cared for in a residential aged care facility. What they said was similar to what surveys around the world have consistently found.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended the Coalition’s spending on aged care as preparations for a Royal Commission into the sector get underway. We asked the experts to crunch the numbers.
Top contributors
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Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
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Professor, Health Law and Ageing Research Unit, Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University
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Stephen Duckett is a Friend of The Conversation.
Director, Health Program, Grattan Institute
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Associate Professor in Ageing and Health, University of Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Dementia Care, University of Tasmania
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Director of Aged Psychiatry, Caulfield Hospital (Alfred Health) & Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Monash University
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Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney
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Associate, Grattan Institute
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Senior Principal Research Fellow, National Ageing Research Institute
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Professor of Ageing and Public Policy, Australian National University
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Adjunct Associate Professor, La Trobe University
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Associate Professor, Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living Research Centre and Occupational Therapy Department, School of Primary and Allied Healthcare, Monash University
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Senior Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), UNSW
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Professor of Nursing Aged Care (Dementia), University of Technology Sydney
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Director of IMPACCT, Professor of Palliative Nursing, University of Technology Sydney
