The decision to move a loved one with dementia into residential care is an incredibly difficult one. These considerations may help.
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Articles on residential aged care
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We spent 312 hours observing 39 residents at six Australian aged care facilities to find out how and where they spend their time across the day.
Respite care needs to be understood as a service for the carer as much as for the older person they care for.
Here’s how to go about raising issues with the relevant person or authority to improve aged-care standards for you or your loved one.
It’s time to rethink these physical environments with peoples’ fundamental human needs at the heart of design.
Devalued and paid significantly less than nurses, it’s no wonder Australia’s aged care workforce have had enough.
We measured financial literacy among 589 informal carers that substantially helped an older person make a decision about paying for residential aged care. Less than half were financially literate.
There are around 50 sexual assaults in Australian aged care homes every week. But staff are expected to assess the severity and impact of incidents without training.
Examining the records of 2,900 nursing homes we’ve found no evidence that where there’s more competition there’s better care or lower prices.
Remaking aged care in Australia starts with embracing people-centred design. Instead of the institutional model with its focus on restraint, we need to understand and design for people’s needs.
Many Australians come to the end of their life while living in aged care. But damningly, the aged care royal commission found many residents have worse palliative care options than those living elsewhere.
Disappointingly, however, this report gives the government room to pick and choose recommendations as the cabinet likes.
The free market experiment in residential aged care is failing older Australians. Rebuilding trust in the system starts with valuing residents’ rights, and holding government and providers to account.
Most aged care homes are designed to be naturally ventilated. But when windows are closed to keep out the cold, poor ventilation appears to be common – and that’s a problem for infection control.
For many people living in residential aged care, their priority is quality of life, not length of life. So how do we reconcile this with the need to restrict visitors during the coronavirus pandemic?
The aged care royal commission’s interim report paints a picture of a system in deep crisis. Its recommendations for action have some merit, but won’t address what are underlying, systemic problems.
While the majority of aged care funding comes from government, residents also have to contribute. Here’s how the payment system works.
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.
Creative arts therapies allow people with dementia to express joy and sadness through painting, dance, music and drama.
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.
Top contributors
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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.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne
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Professor in Ageing and Health, University of Sydney
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Professor of Nursing Aged Care (Dementia), University of Technology Sydney
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Research Assistant, Monash University
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), Western Sydney University
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Bruce Milthorpe is a Friend of The Conversation.
Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney
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Peter Whiteford is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University
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Professor of Health Economics, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor of Economics, The University of Melbourne
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Researcher, University of Technology Sydney
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Adjunct professor of architecture, University of Adelaide
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Ralph Hampson is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Lecturer, Health and Ageing, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney
