Safewards: Enhancing Safety and Wellbeing in Aged Care

Partnering with two local health networks across metropolitan South Australia, this project addresses issues which are of national significance and will contribute to health and aged care policy addressing care for residents in residential aged care (RAC). The project will develop health and aged care workforce capability to support people with complex needs living in RAC, improve care by reducing restraint use and reduce related impacts on the health system (including presentations to emergency departments and delayed transfers from hospital to RAC). Project benefits include available resources for Safewards training and implementation into RAC; enhanced aged care staff knowledge and skills to support residents with complex needs; reduced use of restrictive practices in RAC; embedded care practices that promote dignified care in RAC and enhanced wellbeing for RAC communities (residents, families, and staff) and reduced burden on health services.

This project seeks to address the problem of the overuse of restrictive practices in RAC by implementing a restraint reduction intervention - Safewards. Many older people living in RAC have complex needs which staff are required to support. RAC staff need the knowledge and skills to enable a safe environment that contributes to increased freedoms for individuals. This project builds on our current research that tested the feasibility of Safewards in two RAC in Adelaide. We found that Safewards was a feasible and acceptable intervention and demonstrated some signs of positive effect (reducing restrictive practice use). However, program sustainability was a major barrier to its success. Older persons mental health services that in-reach into RAC are ideally placed to facilitate uptake of Safewards in RAC and support sustainability.