Quality of Personalised Dementia Care in Residential Aged Care Centres

Introduction: There is increasing emphasis on the integration of personalised care approach into general dementia care in literature and the healthcare context, especially in rural aged care centres. It is believed that a personalised approach in the care practice has the potential to improve the quality of life and health outcomes of residents with dementia. This paper aims to explore the determinants associated with the quality of personalised care for residents with dementia in rural aged care centres.
Method: A multidimensional theoretical model on ‘quality of residential aged care’ developed by Rantz et al. (1998) was used to design the study. As part of this, a qualitative study involving interviews and focus groups was conducted. Following the ethics approval from Southern Adelaide Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Project Number: 277.17), carers working in five rural aged care centres in South Australia and Queensland were approached. Fifty nine carers agreed to participate in semi-structured interviews and focus groups at three phases: intervention, one month follow-up and three months follow-up, which resulted in 59 audio-recorded interviews and 16 focus groups. Data were analysed using the thematic analysis method.
Results: Several determinants explored from the views of carers that were complex and cross-sectional. Seven major dimensions emerged from the determinants including focus on residents, interactions between residents and carers, place of friendship, structural environment, care approach, staff education and training and safety measures.
Conclusions: A focus on practice, skills and behaviour of the health system is required so that it appropriately responds to barriers and incorporates the dimensions of personalised care into service delivery for people with dementia.