Research to practice in community aged care
Jarrah Hoffmann-Ekstein and Annette Michaux
The Benevolent Society
Contact Email:   jarrahhbensoc.org.au

Stakeholders have identified that although in some areas of human services such as children’s services there are a large number of websites, briefing papers and other forms of communication between researchers and practitioners, this is far less developed in the community aged care sector, as is the body of research findings. There are also differences in the training and organisation of practitioners in community aged care.

In response.the Benevolent Society, in partnership with Social Policy Research Centre, is attempting to generate cultural change by introducing evidence based practice into the community aged care sector through Research to Practice Briefings. The Research to Practice Briefings are resources for community aged care teams to stimulate discussion and reflection on their practice. Each Briefing draws on the existing research about a certain topic, with a strong focus on what the research says about the value of existing practices and suggestions for improving practice. The first two briefings addressed older people’s social networks, and care workers and care practices which support and enable good care.

This presentation explores aspects of the content of the Briefings, the process of producing and disseminating the Briefings and the response of community aged care staff and the sector more generally.

Paper Download Information (if available):

Paper373.pdf

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