The transition of care from ageing parents: achieving flexible relationships between adults with cerebral palsy, their siblings and service providers. The Australian community faces a significant challenge in providing life-long care for people with severe disability. We will develop a model that will assist families and service providers to make a smooth, effective transition of care and/or responsibility of adults with cerebral palsy from parents to siblings. Achieving this will increase the ....The transition of care from ageing parents: achieving flexible relationships between adults with cerebral palsy, their siblings and service providers. The Australian community faces a significant challenge in providing life-long care for people with severe disability. We will develop a model that will assist families and service providers to make a smooth, effective transition of care and/or responsibility of adults with cerebral palsy from parents to siblings. Achieving this will increase the quality of life for disabled and nondisabled family members, and ensure a more efficient use of public funding. Our findings will serve as a model for managing the life-long care of people with cerebral palsy and other severe, chronic disabilities, throughout Australia and overseas.Read moreRead less
Access to mobile communications for older people with impairments. This research will determine the potential to use mobile communications to enable older people with impairments to remain active members of the community. it will test the capacity for mobiles to enable:
* older people with impairments to maintain social communication links and summon assistance; and
* caregivers to maintain contact with the older person during the day.
Providing these capabilities has the potential to improve ....Access to mobile communications for older people with impairments. This research will determine the potential to use mobile communications to enable older people with impairments to remain active members of the community. it will test the capacity for mobiles to enable:
* older people with impairments to maintain social communication links and summon assistance; and
* caregivers to maintain contact with the older person during the day.
Providing these capabilities has the potential to improve the wellbeing and confidence of older people with impairments and their caregivers and to reduce negative outcomes due to falls or other medical problems by enabling older people to summon assistance easily.Read moreRead less
Vision impairment and quality of life: The development of a new education and self-management program. Vision impairment affects participation in daily living and quality of life. To encourage health aging and meet the needs of an increasing number of older people requiring vision-related services, a self-management program is proposed. It aims to educate participants about low vision, self-management strategies (problem-solving skills, ways of coping emotionally), and self-care. The program ....Vision impairment and quality of life: The development of a new education and self-management program. Vision impairment affects participation in daily living and quality of life. To encourage health aging and meet the needs of an increasing number of older people requiring vision-related services, a self-management program is proposed. It aims to educate participants about low vision, self-management strategies (problem-solving skills, ways of coping emotionally), and self-care. The program is a bio-psychosocial approach designed to empower individuals to manage low vision effectively, increase self-efficacy, maintain good health and improve life quality. The results will be used to develop an improved model of care for people with impaired vision.Read moreRead less
Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from adults lacking capacity: Enhancing medical decision-making through doctors' compliance with the law. This project will enhance medical decision-making about the provision of life-sustaining treatment to adults without decision-making capacity through improved compliance with the law. This will advance patients' autonomy and dignity, protect vulnerable adults whose lives may be wrongly ended because of inappropriate treatment decisions a ....Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from adults lacking capacity: Enhancing medical decision-making through doctors' compliance with the law. This project will enhance medical decision-making about the provision of life-sustaining treatment to adults without decision-making capacity through improved compliance with the law. This will advance patients' autonomy and dignity, protect vulnerable adults whose lives may be wrongly ended because of inappropriate treatment decisions and avoid litigation for doctors and hospitals. The project also aims to improve the quality of the law by resolving legal ambiguity and proposing reforms. This will further enhance the quality of decision-making, and will reduce defensive medicine and the cost of complying with the law, leading to savings in health expenditure.Read moreRead less
Transition to retirement by adults with chronic disabilities: increasing community capacity. This project will contribute to healthy, productive ageing by people with chronic disabilities. This group are living longer and will retire from their disability-specific supported employment and day program services. They then risk social exclusion, loneliness and associated poor health outcomes. This project will provide training and support to local community groups and voluntary work settings, to in ....Transition to retirement by adults with chronic disabilities: increasing community capacity. This project will contribute to healthy, productive ageing by people with chronic disabilities. This group are living longer and will retire from their disability-specific supported employment and day program services. They then risk social exclusion, loneliness and associated poor health outcomes. This project will provide training and support to local community groups and voluntary work settings, to increase community capacity to support this group to participate actively in and contribute to their community in retirement. This will result in increased participation by this group and improvements in their well-being. Training resources developed by the project will be available to disability service providers nationally.Read moreRead less
Ageing in a developing country and its effects on intra-household resource allocation. Indonesia, our largest neighbour and our third largest recipient of AID, is among the fastest-growing elderly populations in Southeast Asia. Ongoing cultural and economic change means that the traditional reliance of elderly on family support is breaking down leaving the country's social fabric vulnerable. Understanding the linkages between ageing, ill-health and the labour market responses at the household le ....Ageing in a developing country and its effects on intra-household resource allocation. Indonesia, our largest neighbour and our third largest recipient of AID, is among the fastest-growing elderly populations in Southeast Asia. Ongoing cultural and economic change means that the traditional reliance of elderly on family support is breaking down leaving the country's social fabric vulnerable. Understanding the linkages between ageing, ill-health and the labour market responses at the household level is the path to effectively intervene in the link between age and poverty and to successfully design policy that facilitates improvements in women's social status.Read moreRead less
Enhancing moral care and quality of life in people with dementia. This research explores largely unknown quality of life experiences of persons living with dementia in residential aged care, and therefore factors that may promote well being, longevity, meaning, family and social coherence. The research will result in new knowledge for a model of care that is truly person-centred and will inform health, ageing and education policy, as well as an enlarged and clearer role function for caregivers. ....Enhancing moral care and quality of life in people with dementia. This research explores largely unknown quality of life experiences of persons living with dementia in residential aged care, and therefore factors that may promote well being, longevity, meaning, family and social coherence. The research will result in new knowledge for a model of care that is truly person-centred and will inform health, ageing and education policy, as well as an enlarged and clearer role function for caregivers. The solution focused model of dementia care is likely to also have positive effects on staff satisfaction and result in improved recruitment and retention. Read moreRead less
Improving Health and Quality of Life with Improved Nutrition in Residential Care Establishments. Inadequate nutrition is a serious issue in residential care establishments. Poor intake of vitamins and minerals is associated with impaired healing, reduced immune function, and reduction in physical and mental capacity. Lack of food choice and access to suitable nutrient-dense foods all contribute to inadequate energy and protein, leading to weight loss and malnutrition. Our industry partners will ....Improving Health and Quality of Life with Improved Nutrition in Residential Care Establishments. Inadequate nutrition is a serious issue in residential care establishments. Poor intake of vitamins and minerals is associated with impaired healing, reduced immune function, and reduction in physical and mental capacity. Lack of food choice and access to suitable nutrient-dense foods all contribute to inadequate energy and protein, leading to weight loss and malnutrition. Our industry partners will work with us to enhance the nutrient density of suitable foods. We will establish the efficacy of foods and supplements and develop strategies to implement a sustainable nutrition-enhancing program that can be introduced to improve health in residential care establishments throughout Australia.Read moreRead less
Finding meaning in the experience of dementia: The place of spiritual reminiscence work. This project will use spiritual reminiscence work to study the experience of dementia and the spiritual dimension focussing on how people with dementia find meaning and develop coping strategies. Dementia is a significant issue for an ageing society where estimates of prevalence indicate a rise of 254% from 1995-2041. The greatest challenge to people diagnosed with dementia is their search for meaning lead ....Finding meaning in the experience of dementia: The place of spiritual reminiscence work. This project will use spiritual reminiscence work to study the experience of dementia and the spiritual dimension focussing on how people with dementia find meaning and develop coping strategies. Dementia is a significant issue for an ageing society where estimates of prevalence indicate a rise of 254% from 1995-2041. The greatest challenge to people diagnosed with dementia is their search for meaning leading to the development of effective coping strategies as their memory loss and confusion progresses. Outcomes will impact on persons with dementia, staff and carers, with improved quality of life for allRead moreRead less
Improving the quality of nursing care and health outcomes for elderly patients during acute hospitalisation. This study aims to compare the perceptions of nurses, elderly patients and their carers in terms of the nursing needs of elderly hospitalised patients'. It will also investigate reasons for any differences found between expectations and reality of care provided. The significance is that the elderly are the largest consumers of health care yet this is the first collaborative Australian ....Improving the quality of nursing care and health outcomes for elderly patients during acute hospitalisation. This study aims to compare the perceptions of nurses, elderly patients and their carers in terms of the nursing needs of elderly hospitalised patients'. It will also investigate reasons for any differences found between expectations and reality of care provided. The significance is that the elderly are the largest consumers of health care yet this is the first collaborative Australian study to investigate the needs of elderly patients. Expected outcomes are an education program for nurses and the development of evidence-based models of nursing care for elderly patients, increased patient satisfaction and health outcomes. Hospitals ultimately benefit in cost-effectiveness and efficiency.Read moreRead less