The demand for employees in aged care is at record heights. That need is only set to increase. While the statistics may point to a career in aged care being a no-brainer, the type of work involved in aged care means that it is helpful to take a closer look. From activities that may need you to be physically fit to managing a resident that has complex needs, aged care work is both challenging and rewarding. For work that involves intimate care of a person, physically and emotionally, it is helpful for all involved that the heart, head and skills …

It is often a concern, working nights and wondering what the effects on our bodies will be. From police officers, to nurses and aged care workers, many professions demand that personnel be alert, attentive and doing their jobs well during the night time shift. Many of us have asked ourselves, will working through the night and sleeping during the day have a lasting impact on my body and health? What are the effects of working the night shift? Should we be asking for longer periods of working night shifts to ‘get into the groove’ or should we chop and change? …

Moving a loved one into residential aged care can be a challenging time for families. Coping with how your loved one is feeling and your own emotions can lead to significant stress and pressure. Many of us have an understanding that stress happens when we’re in difficult situations and that it affects how we do life. While some situations, like transitioning a loved one into aged care can’t be prevented, experts have been looking at stress and how to deal with it well. What Is Stress? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines stress as “a reaction to a …

Moving into an aged care facility for many residents can bring with it many mixed emotions of having to upheave the previous life and lifestyle to a new facility and home. For many families the mixed emotions can be felt by all involved. From guilt, relief and anguish all at once. From the elderly persons perspective who is having to come to terms with their new environment and routine or being a child who is seeking the best for their mum or dad, so many emotions can be ricocheting around as you all try to figure it out. It can …

Sometimes it can be hard to figure out what you and your loved one or resident’s can do on a rainy afternoon. A part from watching Humphrey Bogart in just about anything, it can easily seem that options are a bit thin on the ground. While many residents will still want to get their minds and hands involved with activities, it can be challenging to find activities that suit their mobility needs. Here are a few ideas that can keep minds, hands and creative tastes entertained for afternoons on end. Lampshade Button Bonanza One of the trickiest times to navigate …

This is a particularly difficult topic. For those of us that have dealt with loved ones being diagnosed with dementia and living through the gradual progress of the condition, sometimes the pain and frustration can be more than words can communicate. Most people, when they hear of the diagnosis of a loved one, go through strong emotions. From loss, grief and anger, you have a right to be going through them all. A person you love will be changing and that change is out of your control. Loving, caring and doing life with someone with a diagnosis of dementia is …

Adjusting to a new living space can be hard for everyone involved. For a senior loved one, leaving the house, routine and life they have been used to for decades can be incredibly stressful. Not only that but those of us, who have journeyed alongside our parents as they have slowly lost the ability to be as mobile as they once were, also go through a heart wrenching experience. You are not alone in having your heart squeezed as you see your parents trying to maintain their independence, wanting to prolong living in the homes that they have loved for …

When resources are being stretched, personnel are trying to juggle more balls than they can count and everyone’s trying to just reach the finish line, it is so easy to understand how some elements of care can be done without much thought. One of those elements is food. When caring for upwards of 150+ residents, it is entirely reasonable to schedule and manage meals well in advance in order to make sure that all nutritional and special needs are care for. Yet in this world of meals, food and efficiency, there is the opportunity to create special moments, perhaps once …

Approaching pain relief and assistance for seniors struggling to manage their conditions can be a difficult and lengthy process. Medical professionals from around the world have been seeking to discover and pave the way for less intrusive and severe options to pain relief other than opioids and other such powerful drugs. The issue and concern of the over-prescribing of opioids across hospitals and residences across the globe has been in the hearts and on minds of many with loved ones in situations of high pain. While as of yet there are no silver bullets to pain relief, some experts have …

In an exciting move before its national conference this week, aged care peak body, Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) is set to launch a social media campaign that highlights the positive stories of those living, volunteering and working in residential aged care. Every person on this planet has a story and while the blockbusters may focus on fictional superheroes, there are heroes that have been walking among us for years, helping to love, care and bolster the spirits of some of Australia’s most vulnerable. In seeking to roll out this initiative ACSA is showing an awareness of the world …