A hip replacement is a common form of surgery in Australia and the success rate of hip replacements is improving. According to The Australian Medical Associations just one in 10 patients require follow-up work. Saving the health system millions of dollars, reducing risk and improving comfort for patients. It’s a fact of life that none... Read More

A controversial therapy option is gaining increasing popularity among nursing homes and even home care.  For elderly patients who have cognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, caregivers and medical professionals have found some potential benefits in a therapy technique known as Doll Therapy. Although some controversy lies in this therapy method, government studies are showing growing... Read More

‘The struggles with showering’: Support for Carers as dementia progresses One of the greatest challenges facing caregivers of people in the latter phases of Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia is ensuring that their loved ones are regularly bathed. Overtime if personal hygiene is not attended to regularly it can result in urinary tract infections, skin conditions and... Read More

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by the body’s immune response to a bacterial infection that has entered the blood stream. It leads to damage of the body’s tissues and organs.  According to The George Institute for Global Health, “It kills more people than prostate and breast cancer, but six out of ten Australians have... Read More

As we near the end of our lives, be it from old age and diseases that accompany ageing, or from late-stage cancer or other terminal illness, we tend to all go through the same processes. According to the Pharmaceutical Journal, we may enter a pre-active dying phase after which we enter an active dying phase. Our... Read More

Urinary tract infections are a common problem for older people. While most women will develop a UTI at some time during their adult lives, men over the age of 50 are also particularly at risk.   UTIs account for 1.2 per cent of all GP consultations. In Australia, three were more than 73,000 hospitalisations for... Read More

  Personal care workers are the backbone of the aged care sector. Not only do they provide emotional support and care to older people living in residential aged care, they are also increasingly being asked to perform a range of more technical tasks that require high levels of skill and training. One such task that... Read More

Stages of Alzheimer’s and Dementia explained by The American Association of College of Nursing What are the 7 stages of Alzheimer’s Disease? The more we learn about Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia we release that no two people with the disease will have the same trajectory. This means that every person with the... Read More

Unfortunately for all women there will come a time when our female hormones go into free fall. The average age of starting the menopause is anything from early 40s right into the 50s. Generally ladies will experience the pre cursor to the menopause, called the perimenopause, around our 40s, where the symptoms start to become... Read More

As children we get taught that when we do something wrong, we should apologise and say we’re sorry. So why is it that as adults, and organisations, we struggle to admit fault and apologise when things go wrong? In aged care, there is often more focus on fixing, or historically even covering up, the problem... Read More

I have been confronted and have challenged staff about several encounters that have directly involved and affected my husband and, consequently, me also. These incidents have included patients’ need for comfort during episodes of delirium, intrusive and aggressive behaviours and patients’ need for companionship. I have sought advice through My Age Care and have researched... Read More

Imagine … you are attending to a resident one day, and you suddenly find them unresponsive and not breathing. You believe the resident has a ‘do not resuscitate’ (DNR) order in place, but it’s not documented on your handover sheet and you have to make the critical decision to either; leave the resident whilst you go and find... Read More