Dr Merran Cooper, CEO

Touchstone Life Care

Aged care is an increasingly important area in healthcare, and technology is helping to drive improvements in the quality of care that elderly people receive. Research into aged care technology is helping to develop new solutions to some of the most pressing challenges faced by healthcare providers and elderly care recipients, assist their implementation, and address barriers to their uptake and sale. 

A key focus of research in this area is on the development of systems and devices that can monitor the health and wellbeing of elderly people. Wearable devices such as smart watches and fitness trackers can be used to monitor vital signs such as heart rate and body temperature and can alert carers and family members if any changes occur. These devices can also be used to detect falls and can provide data on the activity levels of elderly people. 

Another key focus of research is on the development of systems and devices that can provide assistance to elderly people in their homes. This includes the use of robots and other automated systems to help elderly people with tasks such as cleaning and laundry, as well as providing reminders and notifications about medication and appointments. There are a number of systems and devices available that allow for video conferencing and remote monitoring of elderly people's health and wellbeing. These systems allow for real-time communication between elderly people and their carers, as well as providing information on changes in vital signs. 

Research has begun into the use of technology to improve communication between elderly people and their carers. Cloud-based care plans are being utilised to provide elderly individuals with the ability to easily create, share, manage, and access their own personalised care plans and advance care plans. Additionally, this technology is allowing care providers to share information more quickly, streamline communication, and keep elderly people more informed about their care. Research into this technology includes learning how to create digital systems that are easy to access and navigate, even for those with some cognitive decline, to ensure that elderly people are receiving the most effective and person-centred care possible, and their families and carers are part of an informed care team for shared decision-making.  

Technology can be especially difficult to implement in aged care due to the complexity of the caregiving environment. Aged care is often provided by multiple carers in multiple locations, with different levels of technology literacy and training. This can make it difficult for technology to be efficiently integrated into the caregiving process. Therefore, future research must include how human factors impact the uptake and implementation of technology. These factors include an aging population with varying levels of technical literacy, a lack of understanding of the technology and how to properly use it, and a lack of resources, such as time and money, to properly support the technology. Additionally, many elderly people may be resistant to change or may not be able to easily learn how to use the technology. 

Perhaps one of the greatest barriers to the adoption of digital technology in aged care is the lack of customer support available. Without adequate customer support and education, elderly people, their carers and care providers, may be unable to use the technology properly or may be unable to access the features and benefits of the technology. This can lead to a lack of trust in the technology, which may further hamper its adoption. Research into the best way to support new innovations after implementation is lacking and this is an area that needs to be further explored. 

Technology is making a huge impact in improving the quality of life for many elderly people. Alliances between different organisations, such as healthcare providers, technology companies, and software developers, will help to overcome the challenges faced by elderly people and their caregivers. ARIIA is supporting, collaborating, and collating these alliances to ensure that evidence-based technologies that make a real difference are developed, implemented, supported, and funded.  

*The views and opinions expressed in Knowledge Blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ARIIA, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

Christy Hunt, Workforce Development Program Manager for the End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) Program

Queensland University of Technology

Palliative care has been recognised by the World Health Organisation as a global health priority due to the rapidly ageing population and an increase of chronic illnesses around the world. It has also been noted as an area of high importance in the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Consequently, a well-trained and prepared health workforce is required for the delivery of high-quality palliative care for people living with life-limiting illnesses.  End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC), funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, aims to improve the aged care workforce’s capacity to provide quality palliative and advance care planning for aged care recipients. Nationally there is not a consensus on capabilities for palliative care. With minimal inclusion of palliative care education in the vocational and tertiary curriculum, this work is vital to the improvement of care in the aged care sector. To this end, ELDAC’s workforce capability team are currently working on three key resources:

1. Online education directory: The PaCE Aged Care (Palliative Care Education Directory Aged Care) has been developed to link learning resources to palliative care capabilities for nurses, care workers and specialist palliative care professionals.  It also links aged care organisations and allied health professionals to resources within the ELDAC Care Model. Comprehensive resources can be sourced from all National Palliative Care Projects and the content is searchable with richly attributed tags and keywords that improve the accuracy of your search result. This education directory is now available on the ELDAC website.

2. Learning pathways: Current assessment and mapping of educational resources against regulatory frameworks have indicated a need for targeted orientation resources to upskill staff entering aged care facilities. Due to extreme workforce shortages, staff are often employed without the requirement of knowledge and skills in contemporary palliative care practices.  Workforce development was also a key finding within the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Two new learning pathways, the ‘Nurse into Palliative Care’ pathway and the ‘Aged Care Worker’ learning pathway, will focus on the immediate knowledge and skills required to begin work in the aged care setting.  Additional learning pathways will be developed during 2023 which will include more advanced and technical skillsets.

3. Capabilities: New workforce capabilities are currently being identified through a modified Delphi research study. The capabilities will be informed through consumers of palliative care services and palliative care clinical experts. These capabilities will be underpinned by the Palliative Care Standards and will include resources specific to meet the new Aged Care Quality Standards (due for release in 2023).  A consensus-based, multi-professional, capability framework for the provision of palliative care across settings is needed to assist aged care providers to develop the workforce capability in delivering best practice palliative care. Such a framework will guide entry-to-practice education in the vocational education and training sector, higher education settings, and within workplace-designed education to ensure that the future and current workforce are adequately prepared to provide palliative care irrespective of place of practice.

The ELDAC website (www.eldac.com.au) contains home care and residential aged care toolkits, which include links to education and learning opportunities, to support all levels of clinical staff. For more information on these projects or to provide any feedback, please contact the ELDAC Workforce Development Manager, Christy Hunt by email christy.hunt@qut.edu.au

*The views and opinions expressed in Knowledge Blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ARIIA, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.