Many older Australian wish to remain living at home for as long as they can. For many, it’s important they remain in their local communities, where they have friends and family nearby, they know their neighbours, and are familiar with the nearby facilities. The familiarity of home can also be reassuring to older people. The feeling of being immersed in a home they’ve created, a reflection of their life journey and rich with memories, can also be hugely comforting. With...

My name is Charli Maree Darragh and I am the daughter of a victim of the current aged care system. My mother Marie Terese Darragh was murdered in her sleep by a nurse at the St Andrews Nursing Village in Ballina NSW back in 2014, and I am not ashamed to admit that I’m not ‘over it,’ because I probably never will be. My mother’s killer was a woman by the name of Megan Haines who started her career...

The Australian population is getting older, living longer – and for some, getting lonelier. It’s predicted that households of one will rise from 2.1 million in 2011 to a staggering 3.4 million in 2036. Care services are seeing an increased demand for aged care that works with older people, supporting them to keep independent and socially connected in their own homes. Lonely and socially isolated older Australians are a widely distributed, often secluded population. As a group, it’s...

As a 76-year-old, I’ve just received my second NSW Fitness to Drive Medical Assessment form, to be filled by my GP, and which has needed to be completed annually since I turned 75. It is very, very comprehensive, covering a multitude of physical and mental health criteria. And it got me thinking about all the controversy around older drivers, with the debate being between whether we are safer or more dangerous on the roads. So, I’ve been doing some research...

A photo showing an elderly woman standing hunched over on a Sydney train while three young commuters sit down in front of her has been causing quite a stir on the internet lately. The picture, shows an obviously frail and physically limited older woman standing and clutching on to a pole to maintain her balance on a crowded Sydney train, while four young individuals sit comfortably, either ignoring her or too engrossed with their mobile phones to care. The photo...

It’s an uncomfortable image to consider: an elderly person – perhaps somebody you know – physically restrained. Maybe an aged care resident deemed likely to fall has been bound to his chair using wrist restraints; or someone with dementia acting aggressively has been confined to her bed by straps and rails. These scenarios remain a reality in Australia. Despite joining the global trend to promote a “restraint free” model, Australia is one of several high income countries continuing to employ...

I don’t know about you, but if I found myself in a situation where I was sitting with a plate of food in front of me, feeling those all too familiar pangs of hunger, but was unable to decipher the complexities of just how to banish that hunger by manoeuvring the contents of the plate before me into my stomach... I might just grumble at whoever was nearby, I might get up and walk away, I might even lash out...

The word ‘home’ often conjures images of a house filled with loved ones, but in reality, home is actually a feeling that comes with being in a place where you are truly comfortable and able to be yourself. Sometimes though, finding comfort can be difficult. As a person ages, their overall health and quality of life hinge on a variety of different factors, but being able to remain living at home as opposed to an aged care facility has proven...

  Australia is not prepared for the huge anticipated increase in the number of people living with dementia, and “radical solutions” and “specialised education and training” will be essential for the nation to cope, experts say. When Maree McCabe opened her hearing at the Aged Care Royal Commission, she revealed some sobering statistics about the growing prevalence of dementia in Australia. “At the moment, there are 436,000 Australians living with dementia. By 2056, there will be 1.1 million...

  Well over a year ago, Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt signaled the Government's intention to introduce unannounced audits and spot-checks in Australian nursing homes as a means to ensure that high standards of care were being met. For those of us with loved ones being cared for in aged care facilities, this news was a relief, and many hoped that having unannounced visits would provide the insight and transparency needed to give an accurate assessment of the quality of...

The safe and accurate administration of medication is one of the cornerstones of the aged care system. Appropriate systems and strategies for ensuring that the correct medications are given in the prescribed amounts, at the correct times, and to the right people, are a key factor in the trust that residents and their families place in nursing homes. In this day and age, when our lives are becoming increasingly automated in so many ways, it may come as a surprise...

There's nothing quite like the Australian summer. Searing temperatures, high winds, and prolonged heat waves can have devastating consequences on our plant life, our animals and even our people. Elderly Australians are particularly vulnerable during the summer months, with issues like heat stroke, dehydration, exhaustion, and heat syncope all being very real possibilities for those who are unable to get cool and stay hydrated. And one of the recommendations that come up over and over again in order to avoid...