Caring for Older People in Australia: Principles for Nursing Practice

Caring for older Australians should be of paramount concern to all in our community.
Older people are from many walks of life, and deserve to be cared for in a manner which
promotes their wellbeing and preserves their dignity to the end of their life. Nurses and
other health professionals are pivotal in ensuring that their needs are met, at a time
when they are most vulnerable.

Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of Australia s pre–eminent academics and
clinicians from the aged care community, Caring for Older People in Australia presents
undergraduate students with a holistic guide to care provision in a rapidly growing
sector. In recognition that clinical skills and issues do not occur in isolation, the text
integrates the most up–to–date multidisciplinary research and policy with the practical
realities of caring for older people.

Importantly, nurses and other health professionals require knowledge and skills,
informed by evidence, to provide care that is appropriate for the older person in their
home, community or acute care setting, or residential aged–care facility. This book is
developed to provide undergraduate students, students in the TAFE sector, newlyregistered
nurses and other health professionals with contemporary knowledge and
skills that enable them to practise e ectively and competently across the continuum of
care settings.

Caring for Older People in Australia adopts a person–centred, primary healthcare focus to
explore the most contemporary issues in aged care. It re ects the rich diversity of people,
settings and approaches to care and provides readers with numerous opportunities for
critical reflection throughout.

Caring for Older People in Australia strives for excellence in the delivery of care,
informs policy to better reflect the needs of the older person and promotes
change in how we see older people in practice.

About the editors xiv
Preface xv
Acknowledgements xviii

Chapter 1: Primary healthcare and the older person 1

Chapter 2: Understanding the ageing process 27

Chapter 3: Person–centred care: culture, diversity and spirituality 69

Chapter 4: Attitudes and communication: the older person, carers and families 95

Chapter 5: Nutrition, hydration and feeding: impact on the older person 133

Chapter 6: Pharmacology and complementary therapies 171

Chapter 7: Prevention of falls 203

Chapter 8: Care of the older person in the emergency department 257

Chapter 9: Rehabilitation, co–morbidity and complex care 289

Chapter 10: Transition of settings: loss and grief 317

Chapter 11: Pain and the older person 345

Chapter 12: A palliative approach 377

Chapter 13: Promoting continence 423

Chapter 14: Depression in older people 455 

Chapter 15: Understanding and responding to behaviours 489

Chapter 16: Sexuality 523

Chapter 17: Continuous improvement in aged care 551

Chapter 18: Bereavement care 575

Glossary 599

Index 606

Amanda Johnson is a Senior Lecturer (Aged care) and Director of Academic Programs Undergraduate at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Western Sydney. She has worked in the tertiary sector since 1992. Dr Johnson s PhD thesis is in undergraduate palliative care education. She has been an active leader in the development of undergraduate curriculum in the areas of aged care, chronic illness and palliation. In 2011, Dr Johnson was the winner of the Vice–Chancellor s Excellence award in Leadership for the IRONE project and in 2010 was Highly Commended in these awards for her teaching of chronic illness and palliation. Dr Johnson s research over the last 12 years has been focused in aged care, dementia and palliation. She is committed to making a diff erence in the lives of older people through her teaching and research activities.

Esther Chang is Director for Higher Research Degree and Course Advisor for the Honours program in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Western Sydney. She has worked in academia since 1986, with three tertiary institutions. She has been a Head of School, Dean of the Faculty of Health, and Acting Pro–Vice–Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury. Professor Chang is committed to aged, dementia and palliative care and has received many large grants to investigate nursing and health needs in older people, and has developed models of care for acutely ill elderly patients and clients with end–stage dementia. Professor Chang s international links have generated collaborative research into aged care across several countries. Th is process has infl uenced her ideas and refl ections on the approach that textbooks need to embrace for eff ective student learning.