| | | | | | | | | | From the Director ARIIA Knowledge and Implementation Hub | | Technology has been identified as a major contributor to reform in the aged care sector. The need for greater innovation and research in the aged care sector, to improve the lives of older people living in residential care, and those receiving care in their own homes, was a key theme of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. ARIIA has identified that new ideas, ways of working, and technology will be needed to drive sector improvement. Increasing the capacity and capability of the sector to adopt, adapt and contextualise innovation and technology will contribute to growth and transformation. The new Technology in Aged Care priority topic in the Knowledge and Implementation Hub is a critical first step. | | | |
Released on 1 March 2023, the Technology in Aged Care topic brings together evidence of best practice, along with learning and practical resources, on two critical issues relating to technology in aged care: testing frameworks and human factors. Two scoping reviews and their associated evidence themes detail the evidence and best practice to guide technology providers and aged care services in developing and implementing quality technology products. Over 100 technology related resources provide insights, tools and training for good practice. A set of Knowledge and Implementation Hub blogs provide industry and aged care perspectives on technology, what works and what needs to be resolved.
We are also interested in hearing about your experiences, successes, and failures in interacting with technology in aged care. For example, have you seen an increase in the use of technology in aged care since the COVID-19 pandemic? Who is involved in selecting, testing, and providing feedback on new products in your workplace? You can share your experiences in our feedback box share your stories on using technology in aged care. We look forward to continuing to build this topic as the digital transformation for aged care unfolds.
Prof Jennifer Tieman, Director of the Knowledge and Implementation Hub
| | | | Translating evidence into best practice | | Evidence in the form of guidelines, reviews and evidence summaries describes what best practice should look like. However, translating that evidence into the day-to-day delivery of aged care is not straightforward. Estimates suggest that evidence-based care is delivered approximately 60 to 70 per cent of the time. This means that on average, 30 to 40 per cent of people do not receive care that is based on best practice evidence.
There are many reasons why the evidence-practice gap exists. It could be that people are not aware of the research evidence, do not understand the way it is presented, or they may lack the knowledge, skills, time, and support to apply the evidence to their own practice setting. To tackle these issues, it is important to understand the process of knowledge translation, including what the barriers are and how these can be addressed.
Read more about knowledge translation and getting evidence into practice on the ARIIA website. | | | | | | Searching for evidence: Beyond KIH and PubMed | | The Knowledge and Implementation Hub (KIH) provides users with access to evidence and resources on a range of priority topics within aged care. Our aim is to help you connect easily with care knowledge and assist in developing skills into finding evidence, as this is an essential part of good practice and good care.
To help we have created over a hundred pre-made ‘one click’ searches, designed by a specialist librarian, using PubMed database to retrieve evidence-based research on each of our topic areas. Access to research databases and being able to search effectively across them, can be challenging even for a trained librarian. So, for busy practitioners delivering care, creating effective database searches can be time consuming and intimidating. Synthesised evidence and pre-written PubMed searches are one way of supporting aged care by bringing the relevant evidence closer to practice.
Sometimes you need information that is not found in bibliographic databases. This might be held online in organisational archives or on government websites. Knowing how to search efficiently using online search engines is a great way to get the best results in the shortest time. To make things even easier we have developed a new resource that provides pre-written Google searches for each of ARIIA’s priority aged care topics. Again, clicking on these searches will automatically initiate Google searches across our priority topics. However, sometimes you will be looking for specific information and need to write your own search. To help, we have also developed a handy guide that you can use to create your own Google search. You can read or download our How to find aged care grey literature using Google Advanced Search from the Hub.
| | | | Fast, free, and friendly evidence from the Hub | | The team at ARIIA's Knowledge and Implementation Hub has been hard at work for the past year creating a one-stop evidence resource for the aged care sector. We were pleasantly surprised recently to discover just how much content we've compiled and its variety.
We have created an infographic that showcases the huge range of evidence that you can access in the Knowledge and Implementation Hub. Come and see for yourself just how hard we’ve worked to make it easy for you to find what you're looking for.
| | | | | | Upcoming evaluation projects to improve user experience | | We are excited to announce that we will be running some evaluation projects alongside our content creation, as it is important to us to hear about how you access our content and how you interact with the KIH webpages. This evaluation will take place over the next six months and include some short online surveys, useability testing, and focus groups. If you want to find out more about this work or to be told about the chance to participate in our research, please contact us at kih@ariia.org.au
Follow us on social media to make sure you don’t miss out on contributing to how we provide you with evidence-based resources in a way that matters to you. | | | | | | Newly published Australian studies in aged care | | Research evidence continues to be an excellent source of information to guide practice. Here are some of the latest Australian research studies published on aged care topics.
- Ali S, Curtain CM, Peterson GM, Salahudeen MS. Exploring Australian pharmacists' perceptions and practices towards reducing the risk of medicines-related harm in aged care residents. Front Pharmacol. 2023 Mar 1;14:1131456.
- Lai R, Foladkar M, Dhaliwal G, Kibria A, Gualano RC, Healy ML. Access to a dementia-friendly garden on behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, falls and psychotropic medication use in residents of an aged care home in Melbourne, Australia. Australas Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 2:10398562231160363.
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Tieman J, Morgan D, Jones K, Gordon S, Chakraborty A. Allied health professionals' contribution to care at end of life in aged care settings. Aust J Prim Health. 2023 Feb 6. - Murray CM, Milanese S, Guerin M, Bilton R, Baldock KL, Parfitt G. Exploring what matters to residents of Australian aged care facilities with the Happy Life Index: comparison of qualitative responses between pre- and mid-Covid-19 pandemic time points. Qual Life Res. 2023 Mar 16:1-11.
- Xiao L, Gregoric C, Gordon S, Ullah S, Goodwin-Smith I, Muir-Cochrane E, Blunt S. Comparisons on factors affecting residents fulfilling self-determination in ethno-specific and mainstream nursing homes: a qualitative study. BMC Geriatr. 2023 Feb 7;23(1):81.
| | | | | | ARIIA has recently awarded the recipients of the second and third round of its grants program addressing critical issues in aged care.
ARIIA Research Director, Prof Sue Gordon says that the ARIIA Grants will enable the recipients to undertake projects that will make a significant difference in the identified priority areas in the aged care sector.
“Projects must be undertaken over the next twelve months, so we can see research discoveries being translated into real work benefits, in real-time. This is such a refreshing change, as historically, it takes around 17 years to translate research discovery and evidence into practice, and even then, only about 14% of research evidence is fully implemented and integrated."
Click the links below to view details of the recipients of these rounds. | | | | How can the Hub support YOU in your work? | | The Hub offers a range of high-quality resources and research evidence on various topics related to aged care. Regardless of your role in the aged care sector, be it a service provider, nurse, allied health professional, or aged care worker, you can benefit from the valuable information available in the Hub. Moreover, even older individuals and their families and friends can discover useful information on the platform.
| | | | | | How YOU can support the Hub | | Our aim is to create a community of knowledgeable practitioners who not only contribute to the growth of the knowledge base but also provide support for its practical implementation. We invite you to: | | | | | | | | KnowledgeConnect is the quarterly newsletter from the ARIIA Knowledge and Implementation Hub. Designed to bring you an informative read on the latest aged care research, Australian aged care projects, and ways you can use evidence in your personal practice and within your organisation.
KnowledgeConnect is the fastest way to stay in touch with aged care evidence and how to move it into practice. If you have been forwarded this email, click the button below to subscribe today.
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