Background And Objectives: Screening for elder abuse can improve detection, but many health providers lack the necessary skills and confidence. To address this, training for health providers on elder abuse screening was co-designed as part of a trial aimed at improving elder abuse detection and response.
Research Design And Methods: Between March and April 2023, 7 health providers and 10 older people and family carers participated in two national Australian online codesign workshops.
Objectives: The primary aim of this pragmatic stepped-wedge cluster RCT was to determine the efficacy of a co-designed dementia specialist training program (the PITCH program) for home care workers (HCWs) to improve their confidence and knowledge when providing care for clients living with dementia.
Methods: HCWs who provided care to clients with dementia were recruited from seven home care service provider organisations in Australia between July 2019 and May 2022, and randomised into one of 18 clusters. The primary outcome was HCW's sense of self-competence in providing care services to people living with dementia at 6 months post PITCH training measured by the Sense of Competence in Dementia Care Staff (SCIDS) Scale.
Background And Objective: The EQ Health and Wellbeing (EQ-HWB) is a new generic quality-of-life measure for use in evaluating interventions in health, public health and social care. This study aimed to explore proxies' views regarding the appropriateness of the EQ-HWB for measuring residents' quality of life living in residential aged care facilities.
Methods: Qualitative think-aloud and semi-structured interviews were conducted with family members and aged care staff across three facilities in Melbourne, Australia.
Introduction: We report a mixed-methods process evaluation embedded within a randomised controlled trial. We aimed to test and refine a theory of change model hypothesising key causal assumptions to understand how the New Interventions for Independence in Dementia Study (NIDUS)-Family (a manualised, multimodal psychosocial intervention), was effective relative to usual care, on the primary outcome of Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) over 1 year.
Methods: In 2021-2022, intervention-arm dyads completed an acceptability questionnaire developed to test causal assumptions.
Background: This study investigated how different spaces within multigenerational local parks are being used by older people and other age groups.
Methods: Observation of park visitors occurred in six Victorian parks one month after park refurbishment. Parks were classified into six spaces based on equipment/amenities and associated expected activity.
Background: Recreational parks can play a significant role in older people's health, with emerging evidence suggesting that changes in the physical environment, such as refurbishments of local parks, can increase park visitations and physical activity engagement. The ENJOY MAP for HEALTH aimed to evaluate the impact of Seniors Exercise Park installations and associated capacity building activities on older people's park visitation, and park-based physical activity.
Method: The ENJOY MAP for HEALTH was a quasi-experiment study design that involved the installation of specialised Seniors Exercise Park equipment as part of park refurbishment, supported by promotion and community capacity building activities in six municipalities in Victoria, Australia.
Objectives: In India, globalisation is purported to have contributed to shifting family structures and changing attitudes to long-term care (LTC) facility use. We investigated the attitudes to and usage frequency of LTC in India.
Methods: We conducted secondary analyses of: (a) The Moving Pictures India Project qualitative interviews with 19 carers for people with dementia and 25 professionals, collected in 2022, exploring attitudes to LTC; and (b) The Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) 2017-2018, cross-sectional survey of a randomised probability sample of Indian adults aged 45+ living in private households.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
August 2024
Background: Elder abuse often goes unreported and undetected. Older people may be ashamed, fearful, or otherwise reticent to disclose abuse, and many health providers are not confident in asking about it. In the No More Shame study, we will evaluate a co-designed, multi-component intervention that aims to improve health providers' recognition, response, and referral of elder abuse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
July 2024
Objectives: Using the concept of relational solidarity, we examine how autonomy, equality, dignity, and personhood are practiced in the care of people living with dementia at home in urban India.
Methods: Video interviews with 19 family carers and 25 health providers conducted in English, Hindi, and Kannada in Bengaluru between March and July 2022. Data were translated into English and thematically analyzed.
Introduction: In the first randomised controlled trial of a dementia training and support intervention in UK homecare agencies, we aimed to assess: acceptability of our co-designed, manualised training, delivered by non-clinical facilitators; outcome completion feasibility; and costs for a future trial.
Methods: This cluster-randomised (2:1) single-blind, feasibility trial involved English homecare agencies. Intervention arm agency staff were offered group videocall sessions: 6 over 3 months, then monthly for 3 months (NIDUS-professional).
Recreational spaces are important public spaces for people of all ages to engage in leisure and physical activities, however older people remain one of the lowest users of park. This study investigated older people's perceptions and reasons for visiting parks that have undergone refurbishment with the installation of age-friendly outdoor exercise equipment, the Seniors Exercise Park. On-site intercept surveys took place in six parks in Victoria, Australia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although national guidelines recommend that everyone with dementia receives personalised post-diagnostic support, few do. Unlike previous interventions that improved personalised outcomes in people with dementia, the NIDUS-Family intervention is fully manualised and deliverable by trained and supervised, non-clinical facilitators. We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of home-based goal setting plus NIDUS-Family in supporting the attainment of personalised goals set by people with dementia and their carers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe first year of the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on everyday life in Australia despite relatively low infection rates. Lockdown restrictions were among the harshest in the world, while older adults were portrayed as especially vulnerable by politicians and the media. This study examines the perceptions and experiences of the pandemic and lockdowns among 31 older Australians.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: India is the world's most populous country, and overseas Indians the world's largest diaspora. Many of the more than 1·4 million UK-based Indians will be providing care at a distance for parents living in India. Globalisation has contributed to a shift in India from traditional joint family systems to more nuclear structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examines how service providers in Victoria, Australia, undertook early intervention and response to elder abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. This study comprised two phases: (a) interviews with 29 staff members from 23 frontline service organizations about their experience responding to the needs of vulnerable older people during COVID-19; followed by (b) a co-design workshop with 15 service providers to discuss and endorse recommendations to improve sector preparedness for early intervention and responses to elder abuse during disasters. Participants reported that the severity and frequency of elder abuse increased during the pandemic, and that remoteness of services undermined comprehensive risk assessments, especially for older people who were not proficient in English and/or current digital platforms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite the health benefits of parks and outdoor recreational spaces, small numbers of older people visit parks. This study identified older park visitors' perceptions of their local parks, visit motivation, health, and physical activity level in six parks in Victoria, Australia. Characteristics of general community park visitors and their physical activity engagement were also recorded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: There is an increased use of preference-weighted quality-of-life measures in residential aged care to guide resource allocation decisions or for quality-of-care assessments. However, little is known about their face validity (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Resources to support dementia carers from ethnically diverse families are limited. We explored carers' and service providers' views on adapting the World Health Organization's iSupport Lite messages to meet their needs.
Methods: Six online workshops were conducted with ethnically diverse family carers and service providers ( = 21) from nine linguistic groups across Australia.