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.

Minority Stress for Care Experienced Young Queer People: A Case Study.

Young people who are placed in out-of-home care are amongst the most vulnerable in our community. Removed from or rejected by their families, they must learn to live with carers who may be strangers. They may have experienced the trauma of abuse or neglect.

How Residential Care Staff Conceptualize the Identities of Residents With Dementia and Its Relevance for Decision Making.

Unlabelled: The ways in which residential aged care staff conceptualize the identities of residents with dementia has significance for how they support them to make decisions and make decisions on their behalf. This article aims to further understand how staff in residential aged care facilities comprehend who residents "are."

Methods: This qualitative study draws on individual and group interview data with aged care staff from two Australian states concerning decision making for individuals with dementia.

Challenges faced by residential aged care staff in decision-making for residents with dementia.

Care staff in residential aged care facilities (nursing homes) in Australia are obligated, under the Australian National Framework for Action on Dementia 2015-2019, to support residents to exercise choice and make decisions. Research indicates, however, that care staff are often given little guidance regarding which residents' decisions should be supported or how to make decisions on their behalf. This lack of guidance can result in a denial of residents' rights and inconsistent treatment by staff, placing residents' wellbeing at risk.

Indigenous Children and Young People in Residential Care: A Systematic Scoping Review.

In Australia and internationally, Indigenous children are seriously overrepresented in the child welfare system. This article provides an overview of literature investigating the needs of Indigenous children in residential care facilities. The provision of culturally safe and trauma-informed therapeutic care to Indigenous children and young people in residential care recognizes that the trauma and violence that they have experienced is exacerbated by their Indigeneity due to the colonial histories presenting.

How do care staff in residential aged care facilities conceptualise their non-verbal interactions with residents with dementia and what relevance has this for how residents' preferences and capacity for decision-making are understood?

This paper considers the significance of how staff in residential aged care facilities interpret the non-verbal communication and behaviour of residents vis-a-vis their assessments of residents' preferences and ability to participate in decision-making. It highlights the risks associated with staff members' failure to interpret residents' non-verbal communication and behaviour with reference to residents' backgrounds and prior experiences. It also considers how non-verbal communication implemented by staff may impact residents' emotional state and, as a consequence, decision-making abilities.

Identifying conceptualizations and theories of change embedded in interventions to facilitate community participation for people with intellectual disability: A scoping review.

Background: Little progress has been made towards community participation of people with intellectual disability despite it being a policy aim since the 1980s. We aimed to identify the features of programmes designed to support community participation.

Method: A scoping review was conducted of peer-reviewed literature between 2000 and 2015, about interventions to support community participation for adults with intellectual disability.