The Aged Care Royal Commission Final Report

 Description

The Aged Care Royal Commission Final Report titled Care, Dignity and Respect has now been released. The report calls for significant reforms to Australia’s aged care system. The final report also makes 148 recommendations for reform.

In this task, our focus is the National Aged Care Quality Indicator Program. This program requires aged care homes to collect and report data on 5 particular areas, every three months. From July 2021, these five indicators are:

• Pressure injuries
• Use of physical restraint
• Unplanned weight loss
• Falls and major injury
• Medication management

For this assessment task, you have been asked by the government to put forward a discussion paper to recommend the 6th indicator.

The goal of this task is to assist you to understand quality and one of the ways in which we can measure the quality of care we provide. The task will require to think deeply about what we can measure and why we might want to measure the care we provide in all sectors, not only aged care.

Content guidance/exemplars

This is a written assessment task.
To start you will need to select a quality indicator. There are currently 5 indicators, you are required to recommend a 6th indicator. What other indicator could be added to provide data on the quality of care being offered in residential aged care?

The actual selection of the quality indicator is a very small aspect of this assessment task, what is vital is your ability to justify and measure the quality indicator you select.

We suggest you take some time at this point to plan and consider:

• How is this indicator related to care?
• What literature is available on the quality indicator (topic)?
• How could this be measured?

Once you have selected your indicator, you can then start writing your paper. You will need to provide a clear explanation/definition of your quality indicator.
For example, if you select ‘the use of indwelling catheters’ as your selected quality indicator (topic), then you need to define what you mean by indwelling catheters – and this needs to be supported by literature.

• Do you mean urinary catheters?
• Does this include self-catheterisation?
• Does this include ‘in/out’ catheters?
• Are you including both transurethral and suprapubic catheters?
• Are you including both long- and short-term catheter use?

What you are doing here is being very clear about the parameters of your indicator (topic). This will also assist you when you start to write your justification – if you are clear on what you mean, then your reader can also be clear. Remember this is a national program and therefore you need facilities to be submitting data which can be compared.

The justification is central to the success of your discussion plan, you need to convince the reader this is important. You need to use evidence-informed literature to support your case. You need to sell your proposal.

Finally, you need to provide a plan on how the indicator will be measured. You will need to think about how the data will be recorded.

Let us go back to our catheter example and ask the following questions:

• Would it be reasonable to ask a RACF to collect data on the number of catheters every day of the 3-month reporting period? Would one day per month be sufficient?
• If a care recipient with a catheter was not in the facility on the day (they were on leave or in hospital), should this be counted in the data?

FAQ’s

 Do I write in the first or third person?

This assessment task should be written in the third person.

Is there one ‘right’ answer to this assessment task?

No, students will select different (and the same) indicators – what is important, is that you address the criteria.

Is this an essay?

No, this is not an essay, it is a discussion paper and therefore you have more freedom to present in a format which best conveys the information you want to present.

Can I use headings?

Yes, you may include headings.

Can I use dot points?

Yes, you can use dot points.

Is the example you have given us a HD paper?

Absolutely not, the example paper is completely fictitious and has no basis. You may note that is does not even meet the word count.

It is an example of how you might wish to structure your work only.

Do I have to follow the example and use the same headings?

No, you do not, it is an example, not a required template. You can present your paper in another way, as long as you cover the criteria.