Discovering brilliance in aged care

Every day across aged care, people are making a positive difference. They do this through acts of brilliance that give meaning and joy to people who receive, deliver, and/or manage healthcare.

What constitutes brilliant aged care is the focus of a study funded by SPHERE’S Age and Ageing Clinical Academic Group. The study involves a team from different organisations, led by Western Sydney University Associate Professor Ann Dadich, who is also the Deputy Director of SPHERE’s Consumer and Community Involvement and Knowledge Translation Strategic Platform.

“We wanted to discover what brilliant aged care looks like. So, we invited nominations from far and wide to recognise people who deliver brilliant care through an award, irrespective of whether they were a clinician, a practitioner, a manager, a carer, a friend or a family member,” explains Associate Professor Dadich.

After interviewing the individuals who were nominated for the award, researchers discovered some commonalities in how people understand and demonstrate brilliant aged care.

“Typically, in a service that cares for older people, there are assessment measures that solely consider an older person’s clinical needs. However, the individuals who were nominated, collectively told us that brilliant

aged care means having a deep understanding of an older person. They took time to really learn about an older person: their likes, their dislikes, their routines, their hobbies, even things like how they preferred their coffee or tea.”

With a deep understanding of an older person, the nominees demonstrated perceptiveness and responsiveness in accommodating the older person’s changing needs and preferences.

While having a deep understanding of an older person seems like common-sense, it can be overlooked when other organisational priorities prevail. Typically, there are tasks to complete by particular times, like showering and mealtimes.

“The findings from this study remind us that relationships matter,” says Associate Professor Dadich.

Another common ingredient in brilliant aged care was promoting choice for older people. The award nominees spoke of ways they ensured older people had options. For instance, rather than assume an older person should not engage in activities that represented a falls-risk, they were encouraged to make informed decisions about what they did as well as how and when they did it.

“Removing the dignity of choice is demoralising. The people we interviewed found ways to offer choice by supporting older people to make decisions.”

Twelve nominees received the Brilliance in Aged Care Award, all of whom were surprised and excited by the recognition.

“As you can appreciate, the awardees are incredibly humble people. They don’t see themselves as brilliant because it’s often the little things that they do that make a huge positive difference to older people and their carers.”

Translating the lessons learnt

Recognising and learning from people who contributed to brilliant aged care was only the first step of the study. Armed with this information, Associate Professor Dadich and the team facilitated a series of workshops with experts to co-design a brilliant model of aged care. These experts included consumers, carers, clinicians, practitioners, service managers, and academics, all of whom have an interest in aged care.

“These workshops have enabled us to identify what can be done in the aged care sector to promote brilliance, with the least effort and the most impact. It’s not about making huge changes, which can be overwhelming, or superimposing directives on clinicians, practitioners, or service managers. Promoting and sustaining brilliant aged care will require working with stakeholders to identify and introduce micro changes with significant impact.

“The expertise on what to do and how to do it largely lies with consumers, carers, clinicians, practitioners, and service managers. I would like to harness this expertise to promote aged care that exceeds expectation, bringing joy and delight to those who experience it or witness it.

“This approach promotes knowledge translation and is also about capacity building. We’re enabling stakeholders to reflect on what brilliance might mean for them, informed by these key ingredients, and then take actionable steps that are feasible and sustainable to make brilliance happen more often.” Associate Professor Dadich welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with like-spirited individuals to promote brilliant care across our expansive health system. She can be contacted via A.Dadich@westernsydney.edu.au

When Shannon Azzopardi was told she’d won a Brilliance in Aged Care award she was excited and honoured. “I am passionate about my work as a Diversional Therapist helping to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia. I do my job because I love it, I didn’t realise my work would be considered brilliant!” But brilliant it is, according to the colleagues who nominated her. Shannon creates leisure programs to meet the interests and needs of residents at the Garrawarra Centre, situated in South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, a unique aged care residential facility specialising in the care of people with advanced dementia.

Associate Professor Ann Dadich