Having to 'go beyond': Staff perspectives on activity programs for older people living in nursing homes.

Activity programs are run by many nursing homes (also known as residential aged care facilities or long-term care facilities) however little is known about how activities are chosen or how well they meet the needs of residents. The aim of this study was to learn more about activity programs currently offered to older people living in nursing homes in Victoria, Australia. Interviews were undertaken with 13 activities/lifestyle staff working across six nursing homes.

A Qualitative Exploration of COVID+ Learning Network Webinars: Healthcare Learnings at Pace in a State of Rapid Change.

Background: Learning Networks are increasingly used to educate clinicians and disseminate information to health professionals. During the height of the second COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria, Australia, COVID+ Learning Network webinars were introduced as a mechanism for disseminating emerging evidence and up-to-date information to health service managers, and primary care and community healthcare clinicians, and for obtaining feedback from the healthcare sector.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study design was used to explore the COVID+ Learning Network webinars from users' perspectives.

A heutagogical approach to building the residential aged care workforce capability and capacity.

Objective: This paper reports on the design and implementation of an interactive online education package for the diverse Australian residential aged care workforce, in response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. A decade of reports has consistently highlighted the need for an educated workforce to care for the increasingly frail older people with complex care needs living in residential aged care. Cost, availability and timing of education have been identified as barriers to uptake of education for this workforce.

Gerontological educational interventions for student nurses: a systematic review of qualitative findings.

Objectives: This systematic review of qualitative studies explored interventions to improve student nurses' knowledge, attitudes or willingness to work with older people. Student nurses are likely to encounter older people in all health and aged care settings, however, research demonstrates that few have career aspirations in gerontological nursing.

Methods: Qualitative systematic review method based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.

Public health service board members' understanding of care quality in residential aged care services.

Objective The objective of this study was to explore how health service boards understand care quality for older people living in public sector residential aged care services. Methods Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with board members from six Victorian public health services responsible for the governance of 15 residential aged care services comprising over 850 beds. Transcripts were thematically analysed.

How do health and allied health practitioners perceive excellence in residential aged care? An exploratory qualitative study.

Objective: To identify factors that health and allied health practitioners consider central to excellence in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) with the objective of supporting improvements in monitoring, accountability and service delivery within the sector.

Methods: In a qualitative, exploratory designed study, interviews were undertaken with seventeen participants from 10 health and allied health disciplines (general practice, dentistry, pharmacy, psychiatry, psychology, neuropsychology, physiotherapy, speech pathology, occupational therapy and palliative care) with experience of working in Victorian RACFs. The interviews focused on how practitioners perceived excellence within RACFs.

Loss, Unresolved Trauma and Gaps in Staff Knowledge: A Qualitative Study on Older Adults Living in Residential Aged Care.

Despite the prevalence of mental health concerns among those who live in residential aged care, many residential aged care facilities (RACFs) provide little by way of psychological support. Drawing on qualitative data obtained from interviews with residents from across 15 RACFs in Victoria, Australia, this article adds to understandings about the diversity and impact of mental health challenges experienced by residents, and gaps in the knowledge of staff about how to address such. Thus, it also offers evidence of the urgent need for RACFs to provide residents both better access to specialist mental health practitioners and training to care staff on mental health issues.

What factors influence nursing home use of hospital avoidance programs? An interview study.

Aims: To understand why some nursing homes use hospital avoidance programs more frequently than others.

Design: Two hospital avoidance programs, called residential-in-reach services in Victoria, Australia, were evaluated using a qualitative descriptive design.

Methods: Between 2014 and 2018, 127 semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from nursing homes, general practitioners and staff from the residential-in reach services.

'You become their advocate': The experiences of family carers as advocates for older people with dementia living in residential aged care.

Aims: The aim of this study was to identify features of well-performing residential aged care services (RACS) as experienced by family carers.

Background: Family carers can have an integral role in residential aged care providing social support and are well-placed to engage with staff and monitor care.

Design: A qualitative descriptive design was used.

Meeting the needs of older people living in Australian residential aged care: A new conceptual model.

Objective: To report on the conceptualisation of a model for residential aged care in Australia.

Methods: Three-stage approach involving initial model conceptualisation; extensive consultation with stakeholders to test and develop the model for feasibility and acceptability; and examination of whether the model addresses circumstances that arise in scenarios of organisational failure.

Results: A model consisting of five domains relevant to the experience of older adults living in residential aged care-health care; social inclusion; rights; personal care and re-ablement; and dementia management.

Research priorities in residential aged care services: A statewide survey.

Objectives: To ascertain the research priorities of staff working in Victorian residential aged care services (RACS).

Method: In October 2016, all 754 Victorian RACS were asked to list three most important research priorities in a confidential postal survey. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse the data.

Factors influencing decision-making processes for unwell residents in residential aged care: Hospital transfer or Residential InReach referral?

Objective: To investigate decision-making around hospital transfer and/or referral of residents to a Residential InReach (RiR) service in north-eastern metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, from the perspectives of residential aged care facility (RACF) staff, general practitioners (GPs) and RiR registered nurses (RNs).

Methods: Thirty-one staff from eight RACFs, five GPs and four RiR RNs participated in individual or group interviews.

Results: Residential aged care facility staff and GPs valued and relied upon RiR to manage unwell residents.

Hanging on to Some Autonomy in Decisionmaking: How do Spouse Carers Support this?

In Australia, the majority of people with dementia live in the community with informal care provided by family, commonly a spouse. A diagnosis of dementia is a threat to one's personhood and is often accompanied by perceptions of future dependency, which will involve the inability to carry out conventional roles and complete everyday tasks including making decisions. Being able to make decisions, however, is part of being a 'person' and it is through relationships that personhood is defined and constructed.

"I Wouldn't Mind Trying It. I'm in Pain the Whole Time": Barriers to the Use of Complementary Medicines by Older Australians in Residential Aged-Care Facilities.

Older people living in the community use complementary medicine (CM) to manage the symptoms of chronic illness; however, little is known about CM use by older people living in care settings. Using focus groups and individual interviews, this study explored the use of CM from the perspective of 71 residents, families, and health professionals from six residential aged-care facilities in Victoria, Australia. Residents used CM to manage pain and improve mobility, often covertly, and only with the financial assistance of their families.

Risk-scoring systems for predicting preterm birth with the aim of reducing associated adverse outcomes.

Background: Identification of pregnancies that are higher risk than average is important to allow the possibility of interventions aimed at preventing adverse outcomes like preterm birth. Many scoring systems designed to classify the risk of a number of poor pregnancy outcomes (e.g.

An evaluation of Snoezelen(®) compared to 'common best practice' for allaying the symptoms of wandering and restlessness among residents with dementia in aged care facilities.

Snoezelen has become an increasingly popular therapy in residential aged care facilities in Australia and elsewhere, despite no conclusive evidence of its clinical efficacy. This paper reports on an evaluation of the use of Snoezelen compared to 'common best practice' for allaying the dementia related behaviors of wandering and restlessness in two residential aged care facilities in Victoria, Australia. Sixteen residents had their behavior and responses to Snoezelen or 'common best practice' observed and recorded over three time periods.

Care providers' views and experiences of postnatal care in private hospitals in Victoria, Australia.

Objective: in Australia, as in other developed countries, women have consistently reported lower levels of satisfaction with postnatal care compared with antenatal and intrapartum care. However, in Victoria Australia, women who receive private hospital postnatal care have rated their care more favourably than women who received public hospital care. This study aimed to gain a further understanding of this by exploring care providers' views and experiences of postnatal care in private hospitals.

The use of multi-sensory interventions to manage dementia-related behaviours in the residential aged care setting: a survey of one Australian state.

Aims And Objectives: To describe the use of multi-sensory interventions in residential aged care services (RACS) for the management of dementia-related behaviours in residential aged care in Victoria, Australia.

Background: The popularity of multi-sensory interventions has spread worldwide, including for use in residential aged care, despite limited evidence to support their efficacy.

Design: This study reports the findings of the first stage of a two-stage project that was undertaken to describe and evaluate the use of multi-sensory interventions for the management of dementia-related behaviours in all residential aged care facilities in Victoria, Australia.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in residential aged care.

Objectives: There is increasing evidence of the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) by older people living in the community; however, little is known about the use of CAM in residential aged-care facilities (RACF). This review examined the literature on the use of CAM in RACF, focusing on prevalence, motivations, and support for use.

Methods: A search of multiple databases between 2000 and 2010 was conducted.

Identifying risk factors for very preterm birth: a reference for clinicians.

Objective: to provide an accessible list of individual and population-based risk factors associated with very preterm birth to assist care providers in planning appropriate pregnancy care.

Design: a population-based case-control study.

Setting: Victoria, Australia.

Looking back in time: conducting a cohort study of the long-term effects of treatment of adolescent tall girls with synthetic hormones.

Objective: Public health research is an endeavour that often involves multiple relationships, far-reaching collaborations, divergent expectations and various outcomes. Using the Tall Girls Study as a case study, this paper will present and discuss a number of methodological, ethical and legal challenges that have implications for other public health research.

Approach: The Tall Girls Study was the first study to examine the long-term health and psychosocial effects of oestrogen treatment for tall stature.

Intracervical procedures and the risk of subsequent very preterm birth: a case-control study.

Objective: To investigate the relation of prior intracervical procedures with very preterm birth.

Design: A population-based case-control study.

Setting: The study was conducted in Australia between 2002 and 2004.

Risk scoring systems for predicting preterm birth with the aim of reducing associated adverse outcomes.

Background: Identification of pregnancies that are higher risk than average is important to allow the possibility of interventions aimed at preventing adverse outcomes like preterm birth. Many scoring systems designed to classify the risk of a number of poor pregnancy outcomes (e.g.