Taking Risks in Aged Care

For many, our later years are a time to slow down, but new research suggests that we could be applying the breaks too hard - particularly for those living in residential aged care.

Researchers are working to try and find out what role risk plays in the lives of aged care residents and in particular, how it can be managed to make their lives more enjoyable.

Staff at The National Coronial Information System are studying risk in aged care – whether residents who take on greater risks better enjoy their lives. They are reviewing every nursing home death reported to the coroners over the past 15 years.

Joe Ibrahim, an Aged Care Specialist at Monash University says, “it’s the first time that it’s being done in Australia.”

The data will allow researchers to determine how deaths can be prevented and also answer another key question: how to deal with the balance between individual freedom vs. regulations and safety structures within aged care.

Alongside working in research, Joe Ibrahim also manages residents at an aged care home in Ballarat. The interactions he has here have helped to shape his thinking about how aged care residents spend their days.

Through his work, Ibrahim is hoping to create a cultural shift in the way society views people in the final years of their lives.

“What makes us so uncomfortable when someone wants to take a risk with their life?” he asks. “How do we as a society work to enable people to make those choices?”

Starrett Lodge residents Marcia (93) and Patricia have strong opinions about who should decide what residents do.

“We are adults and we’ve always been used to making our own decisions,” says Patricia.

Marcia adds, “I think you’ve got every right to do what you want to do – and here, we do.”

Many aged care homes around Australia now provide person centered care to their residents. This is a dramatic shift from traditional care models where families, doctors and the nursing homes themselves made minimising risk the top priority for residents.

Linda Willard, Lodge Operator at Uniting Starrett Lodge says, “It really comes down to remembering that that person is still a person – they’re just older. We need to be creative in the way that we manage those risks.”

Watch the full ABC News report below:

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