Characteristics and value of 'meaningful activity' for people living with dementia in residential aged care facilities: "You're still part of the world, not just existing".

Most residential aged care facilities support residents to participate in activities and the importance of activities that are suited to individual preferences and abilities is widely acknowledged. Participating in activities, including those considered to be 'meaningful' has the potential to improve residents' quality of life. However, what makes activities meaningful for people living with dementia in residential aged care facilities is unclear.

Community expectations of a village for people living with dementia.

Small-scale models of dementia care are a progressive approach to improve care for people living with dementia. These models intend to provide a home-like environment with a small number of residents in each living unit, easy access to services and facilities, a dedicated team of staff and flexible routines. This study was undertaken during the construction phase of a new village and provided a unique opportunity to explore expectations of the village among the local community.

The precarious resilience of aged care employees enrolled in an Australian online dementia course: A cross-sectional study of occupational health and well-being.

Objective: Australian aged care workforce surveys offer limited information about those who engage in online dementia education regarding their occupational health and well-being. A salutogenic approach was applied to an aged care context to quantitatively assess both positive and negative aspects of health at work to inform the development of workplace interventions tailored to those interested in self-development.

Methods: Physical, psychological and occupational health were measured in an online cross-sectional survey of general health, chronic conditions, psychological distress, positive and negative affect, job satisfaction, access to workplace amenities and turnover intentions of aged care workers undertaking an online dementia course in October 2014.

Consumer Access, Appraisal, and Application of Services and Information for Dementia (CAAASI-Dem): a validation study.

The Consumer Access, Appraisal, and Application of Services and Information for Dementia (CAAASI-Dem) was developed to examine individuals' self-assessed confidence in their ability to access, appraise and use dementia services and information. The CAAASI-Dem is the only tool to date to measure this crucial component of dementia literacy. This study was designed to validate its structural validity.

Measuring consumer access, appraisal and application of services and information for dementia (CAAASI-Dem): a key component of dementia literacy.

Background: The ability to locate, navigate and use dementia services and information, either for oneself or in providing care for others, is an essential component of dementia literacy. Despite dementia literacy being understood to be inadequate in many settings, no validated instrument exists to measure these elements. Here we describe the development and preliminary validation of the Consumer Access, Appraisal and Application of Services and Information for Dementia (CAAASI-Dem) tool.

Enjoyable, engaging and individualised: A concept analysis of meaningful activity for older adults with dementia.

Aim: The term "meaningful activity" is widely used in policy, practice and the research literature. However, definition and use of the term is unclear and inconsistent. A concept analysis was conducted to explore the fundamental attributes that make an activity meaningful for older adults with dementia and propose a conceptual model for understanding "meaningful activity" in this population.

Workshops on diagnosis and management of dementia for general practitioners: a pre-post intervention study of dementia knowledge.

Objectives: To assess improvements in dementia knowledge among general practitioner (GP) registrars and supervisors following their participation in dementia workshops.

Design: Pre-post intervention study.

Setting: General practice education in Australia.

General practitioners attitude and confidence scale for dementia (GPACS-D): confirmatory factor analysis and comparative subscale scores among GPs and supervisors.

Background: The attitude of General Practitioner's (GP's) towards dementia and confidence in their clinical abilities impacts on diagnosis rates and management of the condition. The purpose of the present research is to refine and confirm the reliability and validity of the General Practitioner Attitudes and Confidence Scale for Dementia (GPACS-D) as a tool to measure confidence and attitude.

Methods: A sample of 194 GP volunteers attending dementia education workshops were recruited to complete the GPACS-D before and after the workshop.

Best intentions or best practice? A case study of the nutritional needs and outcomes of a person with dementia living in a residential aged care home.

Aims: To evaluate the nutritional status and needs of a person with dementia living in an aged care home, including identification of barriers to, and effective strategies for, the provision of person-centred care.

Background: Nutrition and hydration care are integral to quality of life for adults with dementia, but there is little research on whether staff knowledge around effective care strategies for residents is translated into optimal care.

Design: Focused ethnographic single-case design.

Staff awareness of food and fluid care needs for older people with dementia in residential care: A qualitative study.

Aims And Objectives: To examine awareness of aged care home staff regarding daily food and fluid care needs of older people with dementia.

Background: Older people in residential care frequently are malnourished, and many have dementia. Staff knowledge of the food and fluid needs of people with dementia is limited.

"Bringing the outside world in": Enriching social connection through health student placements in a teaching aged care facility.

Background: Older adults living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) often experience limited opportunities for social connection despite close proximity to peers, which has implications for mental health and quality of life (QoL). The introduction of large-scale undergraduate health student placements in RACFs may enhance opportunities for meaningful engagement through social connection, although this remains unexplored.

Objective: This research explores whether interpersonal encounters between health students and RACF residents influence residents' opportunities for social connection and QoL.

Development and preliminary psychometric properties of the General Practitioner Attitudes and Confidence Scale (GPACS-D) for dementia.

Background: International evidence suggests that dementia is under-diagnosed in the community and that General Practitioners (GPs) are often reluctant to engage to their fullest capability with patients who exhibit cognitive symptoms. This is potentially reflected by a lack of GP knowledge about the syndrome. However, it is also recognised that attitudes and confidence are important in relation to how and to what extent a GP approaches a person with dementia.

Counting the cost of dementia-related hospital admissions: A regional investigation.

Aim: At a time of increasing dementia prevalence, this research explores the cost of treatment and length of stay associated with the syndrome in a large regional hospital.

Methods: Database analysis of 4332 recorded admissions to a large regional Australian hospital among adults aged 55 years and older during winter 2013 and 2014.

Results: Costs of hospital treatment and length of stay for people with a diagnosis of dementia who presented to a regional hospital were significantly greater than people with no diagnosis over two years.

Encountering aged care: a mixed methods investigation of medical students' clinical placement experiences.

Background: Residential aged care is an increasingly important health setting due to population ageing and the increase in age-related conditions, such as dementia. However, medical education has limited engagement with this fast-growing sector and undergraduate training remains primarily focussed on acute presentations in hospital settings. Additionally, concerns have been raised about the adequacy of dementia-related content in undergraduate medical curricula, while research has found mixed attitudes among students towards the care of older people.

Optimal occupancy in the ICU: a literature review.

Introduction: In intensive care, occupancy is a commonly used measure. There is inconsistency however in its measurement and optimal occupancy targets need to be defined. The objectives of this literature review were to explore how occupancy is measured, reported, and interpreted and investigate optimal occupancy levels for ICUs.

Copper tolerance in fathead minnows: II. Maternal transfer.

Female fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to copper (Cu) maternally transfer Cu tolerance to their larval offspring. Larvae produced after female parents received a sublethal 5-d, 100 microg/L Cu exposure had significantly greater survivorship in potentially lethal Cu solutions than larvae produced before those females were exposed to Cu.

Copper tolerance in fathead minnows: I. The role of genetic and nongenetic factors.

Swim performances of male and female fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) from three different suppliers were determined before and after an 8- to 9-d exposure to 175 microg/L copper (Cu). The reduction in swim performance (delta) due to the Cu exposure varied widely among individual fish, but was surprisingly consistent from one supplier to the next and between males and females. Genetic analysis of the individuals revealed significant correlations between delta and genotypic variation at the glucosephosphate isomerase-1, phosphoglucomutase-1, and lactate dehydrogenase-2 enzyme loci.