How the care of residents in aged care homes can be improved by investing in nursing research

摘要

Residential aged care has developed exponentially in the past 30 years. This is in part a result of policy implementation arising out the need for the governments to develop strategies that respond to both changing demographics and community concern about the care of older people. It is also the result of an influx of energetic and rigorous clinicians and researchers with an interest in human ageing and a proliferation of experts or specialists-a characteristic of our times in all fields. There is, however, an enormous gap between governmental, professional/ scientific and public perceptions of the nature, priorities and appropriate development strategies for aged care and the realities of the day-to-day provision of nursing and personal care in residential settings.Much has been invested in developing acceptable processes to validate funding claims, promote systemic continuous quality improvement through accreditation, and generate and test knowledge through medical, sociological and psychological research, all of which addressing the issues, concerns and directions of government, professional/scientific groups and proprietors.