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...

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...

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...

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...

  One of our readers reached out to us recently when we published an article about the Montessori method. She wanted to let us know that learning about the Montessori philosophy helped give her the skills and confidence to let her mother return home after suffering distressing experiences in a residential aged care facility. She wanted to let readers know that “even from the depths of despair, there is hope”, and the importance of being an advocate for your loved one...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSfMx6Mr1eE When artist, Tony Luciani, set up his new camera blocking the doorway to his apartment’s only bathroom, he had no concept of the chain of events he had just set in motion. Tony soon became absorbed in experimenting with the camera’s various dials, buttons and settings. But his elderly mother was living with him at the time in his Toronto apartment, and he was her full-time carer. Tony ignored his mother’s first request to use the bathroom...

There has been a challenge to the conventional belief, held for decades, that those assessed as being at risk of developing pressure sores must be repositioned every two hours. A paper released last week said two-hourly repositioning is a form of “abuse”, because it interrupts the person’s sleep, causing them to be constantly tired, and possibly contributing to them acting out their feelings of frustration. Two-hourly repositioning also doesn’t prevent pressure sores from developing, the paper said. HelloCare published an...

Warning: Graphic content. Key points to emerge this week at the Aged Care Royal Commission: Aged care staff unpaid by 15 per cent. Australia’s population is ageing, and the number of people living with dementia is rising. Reported cases of abuse in aged care facility are “tip of the iceberg”. People dying while waiting for home care packages to be released. High rates of malnutrition in aged care. Psychotropic medications often used as “first resort”. The Royal Commission heard how...

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...