Aged care homes can fail for a variety of reasons, including:
- Inadequate staffing: Aged care homes may not have enough staff to provide adequate care to residents. This can lead to neglect, poor hygiene, and a lack of attention to residents’ needs.
- Financial mismanagement: Aged care homes may struggle to remain financially stable, particularly if they do not receive enough funding from the government or private sources. This can lead to a lack of resources and poor quality of care.
- Lack of regulatory oversight: Some aged care homes may operate without sufficient oversight from regulatory bodies. This can lead to poor quality of care and unsafe living conditions for residents.
- Poor leadership and management: Aged care homes may fail due to poor leadership and management practices, including a lack of communication, insufficient training for staff, and inadequate planning.
- Outdated facilities: Aged care homes that have outdated facilities may struggle to meet the needs of residents. For example, they may not be equipped to handle residents with mobility issues or provide the level of medical care that is necessary.
Overall, it’s important to ensure that aged care homes have sufficient staffing, funding, oversight, and facilities to provide high-quality care to their residents.
However, when aged care homes need rescuing or transformation, who can you call?
Respect Group is a not-for-profit provider of residential aged care, retirement living and home care primarily in regional communities across 20 aged care homes in Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales. Headquartered in the northwest coast of Tasmania, Respect’s philosophy is that everyone deserves the right to a life well-lived, with dignity and respect.
Jason Binder is the Managing Directory and Chief Executive Officer of Respect Group Limited. Although, the organisation has its origins dating back to 1922, its ability to rescue and transform aged care homes start a little over a decade ago.
As Jason explains, his role was elevated from middle management to senior management upon the sudden departure of the Executive team. With the COO, Brett Menzies, the two new senior managers, whilst in their early thirties, put together a plan to rescue the organisation from near bankruptcy, and delivered it to the Respect board. It was accepted and the executed plan was able to turn around the organisation.
That rescue cemented their abilities to turnaround aged care homes where they may have lost accreditation, faced clinical challenges or financial peril.
In this interview with Re Aged Care, Jason follows on to talk about the current workforce culture, the systems upgrades in new acquisitions and the hiring philosophy, pulling in from the mission of the organisation in believing everyone’s lives deserve dignity and respect.
While the mission to deliver care is important, Jason also emphasises the need to balance with good financial management. As he states, one can’t exist without the other.
Finally Jason talks about the competencies needed by staff to complete the job, as well as the industry needing soft skills, including understanding the emotional needs of residents. Jason closes by stressing the need, as people age, that they are not devalued.
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Applying creativity in wellness and reablement in residential aged care
Real World Games are a series of events that mimic typical obstacles older adults may face in the community. Each event incorporates a different environment, skill and challenge. Over 4 weeks, each competitor will receive the support and training of their allied health team to conquer challenges. These challenges have been designed for varying mobility and functional levels, as well as some challenges for the trainers, for all involved to compete.
The games will culminate in a live-streamed event where competitors from across Australia will compete against each residential aged care centre.
The aim is to make as many older adults as possible, community ambulant, whilst using creativity to give older Australians a sense of fun in the activity.
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Overview of End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC)
ELDAC stands for End of Life Directions for Aged Care. It is an Australian national project that aims to improve the quality of end-of-life care provided to older people in residential aged care facilities. The project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and began in 2015.
Re Aged Care spoke with Dr Priyanka Vandersman, an End of Life Directions for Aged Care Research Fellow, at the Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying, Flinders University about ELDAC and its importance for the aged care workers and residents. Timed to coincide with Palliative Care Week 2023, the interview was captured at the ARIIA Facing the Future: Aged Care 2030 and Beyond Conference in Adelaide in May.
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Smart diaper improves quality of life in residential aged care
Nurses have a pivotal role to play in the widespread implementation and adoption of digital health technologies throughout the healthcare sector for the primary purpose of improving safety and quality of patient care.
Australian Health Journal talked to two of Australian top leaders in nursing and in digital health on how the role of nursing is pivotal to the success of digital health in the Australian health system.
