Potential of virtual reality to meaningfully engage adults living with dementia in care settings: A scoping review.

Introduction: Older adults living with dementia in residential aged care homes receive physical care but may have limited access to meaningful engagement. Due to its multimodal and versatile nature, virtual reality (VR) is speculated to be an effective means of meaningfully engaging residents individually and/or in groups. However, there is little evidence regarding its efficacy as a means of meaningfully engaging older adults living with dementia.

JAVA Memory Care program: Facilitating social and occupational engagement for older adults living with advanced dementia.

Background And Objectives: Residents in aged care homes often report lack of life purpose and meaning and limited opportunities to contribute to their community. The JAVA Memory Care program is designed to facilitate engagement for older adults with advanced dementia. This study explored whether JAVA Memory Care engaged such adults meaningfully, on social and occupational levels, within one Australian residential care home.

Intergenerational live-in student programmes for meaningful engagement: Creating cohesive and supportive collectives in aged-care facilities.

Background And Objectives: Older adults in residential aged-care facilities (RACFs) experience segregation from society and face limited opportunities to meaningfully engage on a social and/or occupational level due to various structural and systemic challenges. An occupational therapy-coordinated intergenerational live-in student programme (ILiSP) with allied health students was successfully pioneered across Sydney (Australia) to facilitate ongoing intergenerational contact. We explored how ongoing intergenerational contact influenced meaningful engagement of older adults in RACFs by investigating routinely collected clinical data and exploring stakeholders' perspectives.

'I could no longer cope at home': Experiences of clients and families in residential aged care within the context of Australia's aged care reforms.

Objectives: Since 2012, Australia has been undertaking major aged care reforms, moving from a previously service provider-focussed approach to a more consumer-oriented policy direction. There is limited research examining consumer perspectives of residential care in the reform environment particularly with respect to both clients and their families. This study explores the lived experiences of clients and families in residential aged care facilities amid the reform implementation process.

Australian National Aged Care Classification behaviour assessment and people living with dementia in residential aged care: Inclusive language for reform?

Objective: To examine the language of the behaviour assessment in the new Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) funding instrument. We explored whether the (BRUA) will support an inclusive and progressive approach for people living with dementia in residential aged care.

Methods: Databases were searched to identify publicly available literature relating to the development of the AN-ACC and BRUA, and hand searches of reference lists and selected websites were completed to identify additional grey literature, dementia language and best practice guidelines.

Implementing a digital tool to support meaningful engagement with socially isolated or lonely older adults.

Social isolation and loneliness are significant concerns in community dwelling older adults due to associated poorer health outcomes, inadequate crises responsiveness and increased societal burdens of care and cost. Generating Engagement in Networks Involvement (GENIE) is an online evidence-based, client-centred social network tool piloted by community-aged care services in Sydney, Australia. GENIE facilitates access to community resources, activities and people to extend or re-establish a client's social connections.

Providing culturally appropriate residential dementia care for older adults with an Indian heritage: Perspectives from Sydney-based stakeholders.

Background And Objectives: Global migration and an increased life expectancy led to a growing number of people with dementia from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) backgrounds living in long-term residential care settings. These minority groups' wellbeing may be negatively impacted due to poor culturally appropriate care that fails to honour valued cultural traditions. This study considered culturally appropriate dementia care for older adults with an Indian heritage living in Sydney-based residential aged care facilities.

Embracing Cultural Diversity - Leadership Perspectives on Championing Meaningful Engagement for Residents Living with Advanced Dementia.

Resource constraints and high staff turnover are perceived as substantial barriers to high quality residential aged care. Achieving relationship-focused, person-centered care (PCC) is an ongoing challenge. This paper reports on an international project that explored how residential care leadership understand meaningful engagement for residents with dementia from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

Best care options for older prisoners with dementia: a scoping review.

Introduction: The prisoner population is ageing, and consideration is needed for how to best support those with age-related health conditions in the system. Existing work practices and organizational structures often fail to meet the needs of prisoners with dementia, and prison staff experience high levels of burden because of the increased needs of these prisoners. Little is known about the best method of responding to the needs of this growing subpopulation of prisoners.

Peer-enabled staff training in residential care settings as means for promoting person-centred dementia care.

Person-centred care (PCC) is regarded as best practice within dementia care, however there is a gap between the understanding and the implementation of this type of care practice. The Peer Enablement Program (PEP) incorporates a group problem solving model for promoting PCC of residents with moderate to advanced dementia living in care facilities. Trained PEP facilitators introduced the program to selected staff from an organisation with 99 facilities across Australia.