Why mental health conversations matter: Supporting older adults
For older adults receiving care in the community, mental health and wellbeing needs can often go unmet, as aged care staff focus on meeting customers’ physical and practical needs, often working within tight time constraints.
Better transitions, better care for older Australians
Researchers are improving hospital-to-aged care transitions to reduce avoidable hospitalisations and better support older Australians.
Making palliative care evidence easy to access and use
How can we know what makes a difference to care at the end of life? The CareSearch team at the Flinders Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD) has developed tools to make palliative care evidence accessible and usable across health and aged care.
Why mental health conversations matter
Supporting older adults receiving community aged care
For older adults receiving care in the community, mental health and wellbeing needs can often go unmet, as aged care staff focus on meeting customers’ physical and practical needs, often working within tight time constraints. At the same time, home care workers, who often interact regularly with customers may be in a unique position to identify when customers need additional mental health support.
A team led by Flinders University, in partnership with Uniting AgeWell Ltd and the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), set out to improve systems for supporting mental health in community aged care. With input from Mental Health First Aid Australia and BeyondBlue a suite of training resources was developed for Uniting AgeWell staff, and referral processes were integrated into daily reporting processes, providing improved pathways for customer support, and affirming Uniting AgeWell’s values of compassion and community as they relate to both customers and staff across the organisation.
The award winning Talking Mental Health project was part of the ARIIA (Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia) Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) initiative. The project focused on translating what we know from research into practical, real-world solutions that staff can use every day to support residents.
Talking Mental Health was co-designed with aged care workers, older adults with lived experience, clinical experts, and researchers. It was introduced into aged care settings through training, mentoring and on-the-ground implementation support.
Discover more about the project and enjoy some inspiring videos on the Uniting AgeWell website.
Better transition, better care for older Australians
Improving transitions of care and reducing avoidable hospitalisations of older Australians
Older people receiving Commonwealth funded aged care support are one of the most complex and vulnerable patient groups. People aged 65 and over comprise 16% of the Australian population, yet account for 44% of hospitalisations, some of which are preventable with the right support systems. Discharge from hospital is a critical transition point across hospital, community and aged care systems, which can operate as silos, increasing the likelihood that older people ‘fall between the cracks’ and creating additional pressure on the health system.
Over the last seven years, our researchers have been collaborating with aged care stakeholders, including geriatric services, aged care providers, consumers and advocacy groups for older people, primary care, ambulance, allied health providers, academics and state government departments to build an Older Persons Transition & Implementation Network (OPT-IN). This network has partnered in projects to understand what happens at times of transition, identify and implement improvements and evaluate the impact on individual and health system outcomes.
Through this program of research, we have developed a ‘Precision Transitions’ model of care that is a digitally enabled, risk-stratified, nurse-led approach to improve transition from hospital to residential aged care. This is currently implemented in the three metropolitan Local Health Networks (LHNs) in South Australia with future plans to scale the model to regional and rural settings and new population groups of older people.
Making palliative care evidence easy to access and use
Why evidence matters: Even at the end of life
How can we know what makes a difference to care at the end of life? Research has an important role in helping us understand what needs are, what works, and what stops change occurring. It can also influence policy, shape the systems and services delivering care as well as enabling the development of resources for communities and families affected by the realities of ageing, caring, dying and grieving. But what evidence is there? And how can those with questions and information find and access relevant and timely evidence?
As part of the Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD), the CareSearch research team has been addressing this problem. It has developed sophisticated mechanisms to harvest, assess, synthesise and translate palliative care research evidence for use across health and aged care services. This means health professionals and aged care staff can have easy access to evidence to guide their practice. Importantly, research evidence that relates to the needs of patients, carers and families is also gathered. When coping with serious illness, trustworthy information is critical.
‘High-quality research evidence offers a firm foundation for decision-making. It reduces guesswork, helps services avoid repeating ineffective practices, and increases the likelihood that interventions will benefit older people and those who care for them' says CareSearch Director, Professor Jennifer Tieman.
Being online means that knowledge is available whenever it is needed through the CareSearch website. Redesigning evidence into practical knowledge through phone apps, interactive learning resources, service solutions, animations and videos ensures evidence can be understood and used.
What lies beneath the simplicity of “trustworthy information” is an interdisciplinary team that brings together experts in palliative care and health care, knowledge translation, digital applications, marketing and communications, and change management. The work is amplified by health professionals, aged care staff and managers, consumers, and community organisations actively contributing in advisory and working groups, co-design and evaluation activities, and promotional and dissemination events.
Dealing with the reality of needing palliative care is hard. Knowing that there is research evidence that can support quality care and that this evidence is readily available makes a difference.
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