Dementia Patients’ Transition to Residential Aged Care: Carers’ and Social Workers’ Experiences

ABSTRACT

Many people with dementia eventually require residential aged care, frequently preceded by a hospital admission. Family carers often find the process challenging and disempowering, as they are expected to move their family member to residential aged care quickly. This article reports on findings from a small Australian qualitative study focusing on the provision of information, support and resources, and discusses the findings in relation to person-centred care and critical social work. Social workers completed an online survey and participated in focus groups, and carers were interviewed. The research found that carers valued the information, support, and resources provided by social workers and other hospital staff. They needed time to adjust to the dementia diagnosis and wanted a supportive person to talk to about the written information. The social workers wanted an improved approach to the preparation and communication of information, and a more consistent approach to family meetings.

IMPLICATIONS

• There is a need to further develop and articulate the role of hospital social workers in supporting the transition to residential aged care for people with dementia and their family carers.

• What is valued by family carers is personal support; a team approach from the hospital; up-to-date, concise information; and guidance from a caseworker.

• Early diagnosis of dementia, more information about the progression of dementia, and advanced care planning would be of assistance.

许多老年痴呆患者最终需要居住式老年看护，一般先要经过医院的批准。家庭看护者多感到这个过程吃力而磨人，因为家人要快速调来调去。本文是澳大利亚的一项小型定性研究，涉及信息、支持及资源的提供，作者结合个性化看护以及社会工作讨论了调查的发现。社会工作者完成了在线调查，参与了焦点小组，看护者接受了访谈。研究发现，看护者看重社会工作者和其他医院工作人员提供的信息、支持及和资源。他们需要时间来适应痴呆诊断，希望跟可靠的人谈论有关的文字信息。社会工作者也想改进信息提供和交流的方式，希望以更协调一致的方式参与家庭的会面。

KEYWORDS:

• Residential Aged Care
• Dementia
• Carers
• Social Work
• Information

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to clinical supervisors Emma Rathjen and Margaret Bugeja for sharing their time and expertise to facilitate this research and to Li He and Leila Rahimi for sharing their knowledge throughout the ethics application and data analysis.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.