Staff must be trained and strategies implemented to recognise and address depression and behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in aged care, but to do this effectively, organisational change is required. This is a key point professor Marita McCabe, ...

Keeping clean outside the controlled environment of the hospital is a challenge that must be met. With companion animals and cluttered workspaces to deal with, infection control in the community can be challenging. Still, nurses and community-care workers must not ...

Dysphagia care gives all staff plenty to think about; only through highly co-ordinated efforts can residents be well served. What is dysphagia? It’s a term that means ‘swallowing problem’. It has numerous causes, including stroke, head and neck cancer, dementia and ...

New devices and software are responsible for many advances in medicine but they cannot be allowed to make us forget the value of human contact. Nurses have seen the value of touch and must keep it in mind as healthcare technology ...

Targeting what drives the prescribing of sedatives is key to changing those practices in Australian aged-care homes, attendees of Leading Age Services Australia’s national congress heard. Dr Juanita Westbury, from the University of Tasmania, presented the key findings from the RedUSe ...

Unplanned care, such as toileting and answering bells, and rehabilitative care, are two areas in which residential aged-care workers said they miss duties across their shifts, new research has found. The team behind the research, led by Dr Julie Henderson from Flinders ...

Nutritional needs change as people get older, putting more emphasis on dairy, fibre and fluids. Good nutrition is paramount throughout life; however, needs change with each life stage. As we age, different nutrients become more important to support what’s happening ...

Guidelines providing care givers assistance in the delivery of spiritual care have been officially launched at SummitCare’s St Marys facility in front of staff and residents who were involved in their development. The guidelines are intended to be flexible and ...