Sonya Brownie

Enhancing resilience in registered aged care nurses.

Aim:  To identify the factors that impact the resilience of registered aged care nurses, that is their capacity to adapt to the physical, mental and emotional demands of working in aged care facilities.

Creating the conditions for self-fulfilment for aged care residents

In 1991 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Principles for Older Persons as a framework for international policy responses to population ageing. These principles promote independence, participation, care, self-fulfilment and dignity as legitimate entitlements of all older people. Although these principles, or variations of them, are embedded in standards of best-practice in residential aged care facilities, the literature shows that in reality institutional care can deny older people opportunities to exercise some of these entitlements. More specifically, residential aged care facilities can deprive older people of access and support to pursue opportunities for the full development of their potential, i.e. their entitlement to self-fulfilment. This discussion article explores the influence of institutional care on older people’s ability to exercise their entitlement to self-fulfilment. We identify the characteristics of a ‘good life’ in institutional care, according to aged care residents themselves. The Eden Alternative™ is presented as a model of aged care that aims to create the conditions for a ‘good life’ and self-fulfilment for aged care residents.

The management of loneliness in aged care residents: an important therapeutic target for gerontological nursing

Social engagement and meaningful relationships are critical determinants of the quality of life of older people. Human beings have an intrinsic need for social connections and an engagement with the social environment. Deficits in the quality of these social relationships lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness in older people. Loneliness can have serious physiological and health implications. It is well established that loneliness is a risk factor for poor physical and mental health, comparable in size to obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and possibly even smoking. The aim of this article is to present an argument for the management of loneliness in aged care residents as an important therapeutic target in gerontological nursing. To date little is known about the effectiveness of intervention strategies designed to alleviate loneliness in aged care residents. Nurses can address this deficit in our understanding by evaluating the impact of loneliness intervention strategies.

Older Australians’ perceptions and practices in relation to a healthy diet for old age: A qualitative study

ObjectiveTo explore older independently-living Australians’ perceptions and practices about what constitutes a healthy diet for older people.DesignQualitative methodology, focus groups.SettingIndependently-living retirees in Northern NSW, Australia.ParticipantsA total of 29 participants in five focus groups, ranging in age from 60–93 years, with a mean age of 73.3 ± 8.8years; the majority (79%) were women.ResultsThematic analysis of the focus group interviews revealed four themes that best represent older people’s perceptions and practices in relation to healthy eating for old age. These included: 1) healthy foods — participants believed in a hierarchy of perceived healthfulness or importance of foods; 2) quantity — participants believed that ageing was associated with a reduced dietary intake and less need for meat; 3) personal circumstances — participants acknowledged that food costs, social situations and health conditions influenced their food choices; and 4) good intention — participants acknowledged that the desire to regain or maintain wellbeing and to preserve health positively influenced their food choices. Participants were unaware of the national nutrient targets for older Australians.ConclusionThe trend towards reduced dietary intake of meat and the indifference to dairy products expressed by many participants in this study suggests that they are at risk of not achieving the requirements for protein and calcium in particular. Failure to meet these age-adjusted nutrient targets has important implications for the health and functional capacity of older people.

A scaffolded approach to Discussion Board use for formative assessment of academic writing skills

Mastery of academic writing skills remains one of the greatest challenges for university students, especially in the first year. Amongst the reasons offered for the challenges are lack of clarity about the university’s expectations and low levels of teacher feedback on work submitted, a failure to engage, and low levels of contact with teaching staff and other students. Academic staff are challenged by increased class numbers and increased student diversity in classes and university policies to adopt a wide range of information technologies into teaching modes. In this paper, we offer one attempt at addressing these three important contemporary academic challenges: use of information technology to provide timely feedback through formative assessment to help students with a range of abilities to acquire the academic writing skills necessary to succeed in higher education. Early indications show that students find this form of formative assessment very useful. They value the timely and focused feedback from the lecturer and are developing collegiality as they learn from each others’ writing and feedback. We believe that this strategy is sustainable and can be adapted to facilitate academic and social integration for students across many disciplines.

Characteristics of older dietary supplement users: review of the literature

Published literature reports rates of dietary supplement usage by individuals aged 60 years or more to be 16−60%. Prevalence figures are dependent on the population studied and the method of data collection. In general, older supplement users are female, Caucasian and well educated, with healthier lifestyle practices than non‐supplement users, and they are less likely to be overweight or to smoke. Neither income nor self‐rated health status are reliable predictors of supplement use in this group. In many cases older supplement users report higher intakes of several micronutrients from food than older non‐supplement users. Current patterns of supplement use by the older person reveal that although they consume a range of products, they do not supplement with nutrients that are of particular benefit to them. The supplements most commonly consumed by individuals aged 60 years and over are multivitamins and minerals, vitamin C and vitamin E preparations. There is insufficient data to quantify the dosage, frequency and duration of supplement use by the older population. Obtaining this information and data about herbal medicine use is an important step towards minimising the risk of drug–nutrient–herbal interactions. Identifying the health professionals who monitor the appropriateness and safety of supplement use in older individuals, particularly given the already high use of medication in this population, also needs to be a focus of future utilisation investigations. This systematic review of the literature published between 1982 and 2003 aims to measure the patterns of dietary supplement use by community‐living individuals aged 60 years and over and to profile the characteristics of older supplement users.

Dietary and health supplement use among older Australians: results from a national survey

Objectives: To measure the extent of dietary and health supplement use among older Australians and to contrast older supplement users from older non‐supplement users.

Older Australian's motivation for university enrollment and their perception of the role of tertiary education in promoting healthy aging: a national cross-sectional study

The aims of this study were to describe the characteristics of older Australian university students (aged 60+ years); to identify the factors that motivate late-life, tertiary-level learning; and to capture older students’ views about the role of tertiary-level learning in promoting healthy aging. In 2012, an invitation to participate in the study was sent to all 39 Australian universities, seeking their support and cooperation to recruit students aged 60+ years into the study. Eligible participants were asked to complete an online survey that comprised a range of closed and open-ended questions related to their university study. Narrative data were coded into themes using an inductive approach in QSR NVivo. A total of 626 older students completed the online survey. Just over half (55%) of the sample were women, 86% were aged between 60–70 years of age, 49% held a graduate qualification, and the majority (69%) were born in Australia. Participants cited a range of personal and vocational motivations for enrolling in a university course. They believed that university-level learning kept the mind and brain active; enabled access to an interesting, challenging, and purposeful activity; promoted social engagement and intergenerational communication; and improved confidence, knowledge, and skills. Future prospective experimental studies of older learners are required to objectively assess the impact of university-level learning on their health and wellbeing, including cognitive function. These data will quantify the benefits of tertiary-level learning to older people and society.

Focus group interviews with older Australians to explore their awareness of the national age-adjusted dietary recommendations and their suggestions for assisting them to meet these dietary targets

Promoting a healthy, nutritious diet is central to the goal of assisting individuals to age well. This study used focus groups to explore older peoples awareness of the current age-adjusted nutrient recommendations and age-adjusted core food groups, and to capture their views about these dietary guidelines. Thematic analysis was applied to aggregate data into categories of frequently occurring responses. Data were collected from five focus groups: a total of 29 participants, aged 60-98 years of age. Analysis of responses revealed that participants were generally unaware of government-endorsed dietary guidelines or nutrient recommendations for older people. Their suggestions for assisting older people to meet these age-adjusted dietary targets included: targeted media campaigns to raise awareness about older peoples nutrient requirements; the need for practical meal plans that do meet their dietary needs; and the removal of barriers to supermarket food choices, such as problems with opening jars and excessive packaging.

Older Australians' views about the impact of ageing on their nutritional practices: findings from a qualitative study.

Aim:  To explore older peoples views about how getting older has influenced their dietary practices.