Putting the 'care' back into aged care.
Aged care is well and truly back on the political agenda in Australia. While the mainstream media has recently exposed a number of horrific cases of alleged abuse in aged care facilities it has done little to highlight the failings of social policy over time or to foster debate on how to improve the care of older Australians. What are the barriers to providing safe and quality aged care to a growing number of our citizens and how do we overcome them? If you relied on the recent media coverage for your impression of aged care you could be forgiven for thinking it is all bad news. But there are facilities providing high quality care and stories of nurses working wonders in the face of adversity. Cathy Beadnell considers some of the broader cultural and workforce issues in aged care.
Beadnell
Cathy
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D001315:Australia; D004645:Empathy; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006292:Health Priorities; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000600:supply & distribution; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits / Q000639:trends; D000078329:Workforce