In our day-to-day lives outside of aged care, this is not something many of us give much thought to.

But in aged care, how the residents are approached requires sensitivity and thought.

The health conditions many residents live with, such as dementia, can cause some residents to become easily surprised or alarmed. They may feel more easily threatened, or they may have compromised spatial awareness.

It may be easy to startle a resident if they are not wearing their hearing aid.

For these reasons, the way residents are approached by care staff is vitally important.

If a resident is approached in the wrong way, they may fall, or they may even lash out and hit the person who has inadvertently startled them.

So what is the best way to approach an older person?

• Always approach residents slowly and from the front. If you approach them from behind, you may be coming upon them completely unexpectedly – causing them to take fright or become confused or upset.

• Try to minimise noisy distractions before you approach the person. For example, you might want to turn down or turn off the radio or television.

• Say hello to the resident and use their name. Tell them who you are, and what you are going to be doing so they know what to expect.

• Maintain eye contact. Always try to sit or stand in front of them when you are speaking to them.

• Use simple language and speak clearly in a calm and gentle voice, but don’t use ‘baby language’. Treat the person with dignity and respect.

• Treat each person as an individual. Understand their situation, and take their individual circumstances into account. Treat them with empathy.

• Take the time to listen to what the person may be trying to communicate to you. This may mean pausing, listening and watching attentively. Look for signs they may be uncomfortable or in pain, and see if you can help them.

• Be aware of your body language, which can be just as communicative as words. Move slowly. Your gestures can reinforce what you are saying. Make sure your tone of voice is encouraging, calm and positive.

• Don’t be rushed, anxious or annoyed as the person may pick up on it.

• Don’t argue or contradict the person.

• If you try to approach someone and they don’t respond, maybe try again later when they might be feeling more responsive. Don’t force residents to talk to you if it appears they don’t want to.

• If you need extra support on these points, ask your supervisor or mentor.

If you follow these tips, when you approach a resident in aged care you are less likely to cause them alarm, and the path to communication and helping them will be much easier.

The post What is the Best Way to Approach an Aged Care Resident? appeared first on Autumn Aged Care.

While hospitals and ambulatory care have seen high adoptions of new technologies and benefits, aged care facilities have largely been behind this trend.

In an encouraging new US study, experts have spent time understanding the particular benefits that technology could lend the aged care sector.

Helpfully, the study delves further into the question of tech and aged care, uncovering unique difficulties facing the aged care sector for technology to be adopted well.

The study offers that in an honest and thorough understanding of the aged care sector, hesitations about technology adoption may be managed well in partnership and with support.

Why was the study conducted?

The study was lead by Professor Gregory Alexander, a professor of clinical informatics at Missouri University.

Across 2 years, Alexander and his colleagues collected information relating to technology adoption in nursing homes, how the residents felt and any improvements.

“We already knew that information technology can help create better care outcomes, but this study helped us see which technologies improve which elements of care,”

“As IT capabilities and extent of IT use improved in nursing homes, we saw an associated decline in urinary tract infections, among other correlations.”

The benefits found

Across the information received, Alexander and his team discovered that there were improvements in three main categories.

• Facilities that reported using advanced IT capabilities in administrative activities displayed a lower percentage of residents with moderate to severe pain.
• With the increased use of clinical technologies, including laboratory sources, facilities exhibited a decrease in residents with urinary incontinence
• Facilities that increased their technology use within resident care saw a decrease in residents with new or worsening pressure ulcers.

Obstacles to be overcome

Alexander and his team discovered that two facilities lost capabilities along the two year study.

Addressing this Alexander says, “Many homes don’t have a trained expert to manage the technology, so even if they do decide to upgrade their IT capabilities, they may abandon certain ones because they are too difficult or expensive to manage.

If they aren’t being reimbursed for investing in information technology, they may decide it isn’t worth the time and money.”

Lessons learnt

Alexander says that the study hopes to help aged care facilities and their administrators discern which IT and technology capabilities are most needed and appropriate for them.

It is in understanding which tech capabilities and features will particularly help each facility that the study hopes to lend itself.

The future of the aged care sector and IT is likely to have a fruitful future.

It is within the right information getting to facilities, to make informed decisions as to design and implementation of technology, that make studies such as Alexanders so useful and needed.

The post Looking Forward: What’s on the Horizon for Aged Care? appeared first on Autumn Aged Care.