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Background: The global population is ageing rapidly and there is a need for strategies to promote health and wellbeing among older adults. Nutrition knowledge is a key predictor of dietary intake; therefore, effective educational programmes are urgently required to rectify poor dietary patterns. Digital health technologies provide a viable option for delivering nutrition education that is cost‐effective and widely accessible. However, few technologies have been developed to meet the unique needs and preferences of older adults. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore technology use among older adults and qualitatively determine the content needs and design preferences for an online nutrition education resource tailored to older adult consumers in Australia. Methods: Twenty adult participants aged 55 years and older (95% female) participated in one of four 2‐h participatory design workshops. In each workshop, prompted discussion questions were used to explore participants' technology use and preferences and to explore content needs and design preferences for an online nutrition education resource specific to older adults. Results: All participants were regularly using a range of different devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets and computers) and reported being comfortable doing so. Participants wanted a website that provided general nutrition information, practical advice and recipes. To enhance engagement, they sought a personalised resource that could be adjusted to suit their needs, included up‐to‐date information and allowed for easy sharing with others by exporting information as a PDF. Conclusions: Participatory design methods generate new knowledge for designing and tailoring digital health technologies to be appropriate and useful for the target audience. Specifically, older adults seek an online resource that has large and simple fonts with clear categories, providing them with practical advice and general nutrition information that can be personalised to suit their own needs and health concerns, with the option to export and print information into a paper‐based format. Patient or Public Contribution: Older adults actively participated in the development and evaluation process to generate ideas about potential features, functionalities, uses and practicalities of an online nutrition education resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life expectancy of persons with intellectual disability is increasing, and this is often occurring concurrently with the aging of their long‐term parental carers. Research in both Australia and around the world indicates that proactive post‐parental care planning is not widely implemented, and transitions primarily happen suddenly following a personal crisis for the primary caregiver. Little focus in Australia has been placed on identifying the barriers that inhibit post‐parental care planning in rural areas, specifically in the context of the newly implemented National Disability Insurance Scheme. This paper examines the factors that limit disability services and their staff in supporting successful post‐parental care planning for individuals with intellectual disability and their aging carers in rural South Australia. Small focus groups were conducted with three groups of rural disability support workers using online technologies to assist with the participants' geographic disparity. A semi‐structured interview guide was developed prior to commencement and was used to initiate discussions on key points. A thematic analysis methodological approach was used for data analysis. There were three themes identified through the analysis; Recruitment; Provision of Care; and Retention. The key findings relating to these themes are presented and supported with exemplar quotes. This research proposes three recommendations for policy or practice change: developing a national advertising campaign for new disability staff that positively emphasizes the high‐level skillset need for proactive planning; supporting rural disability providers to collaborate to establish shared teams of staff with expertise in post‐parental care planning; and, using incentive payments to retain staff with these invaluable skillsets in the disability sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Occupational therapists recommending home modifications in Australia are often required by funding bodies to consider 'value' and 'value for money' (VFM); however, clear guidance on how to define and apply these concepts is not always provided. This paper reports on a qualitative study examining how the concepts of value and VFM are currently understood and operationalised by occupational therapists in Australian home modification practice, with the aim of positively contributing to both policy and practice in this area. Methods: The study utilised constructivist grounded theory to collect and analyse qualitative data from 20 occupational therapists who were currently working across Australia and had professional experience in home modifications. Findings: The grounded theory that was derived from the analysis highlights the unique position that occupational therapists occupy in home modification work as they strive to align the values of different stakeholders to create solutions that all consider to be valuable. In the absence of consistent frameworks or methods for determining value and VFM, evidence also emerged of occupational therapists using a range of individual approaches such as using formal and informal care as metrics, cheapest option approaches, and comparative costing. Conclusion: In addition to a clear need for consistent and transparent approaches to understanding and operationalising VFM in home modifications, there is also a need for further investigation into the value systems that underpin this work. A conceptualisation of occupational therapists as street‐level policy agents has proven useful here as it highlights the position occupational therapists occupy, enacting, making, and, at times, challenging policy in day‐to‐day practice as they work to align the values of the various stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

mcinnes e., seers k. & tutton l. (2011) Older people's views in relation to risk of falling and need for intervention: a meta-ethnography. Journal of Advanced Nursing 67(12), 2525-2536. Abstract Aim. This paper is a report of a meta-ethnography of qualitative studies of older peoples' views on risk of falling and need for intervention. Background. Falls and falls-related injuries in older people are worldwide problems. A conceptual understanding of older people's views about falls risk and need for intervention is useful for understanding factors likely to impact on acceptance of risk and recommended interventions. Data Sources. Seven electronic databases were searched 1999-2009. Reference lists of included articles were screened for eligible papers. Review Methods. Assessment of quality was carried out. Themes and concepts were extracted using a meta-ethnographic approach to compare similarities and differences across the retrieved studies. A line of argument was developed to produce an explanatory framework of the extracted themes and concepts. Results. Eleven relevant qualitative research articles of reasonable quality were identified. Six key concepts were identified: beyond personal control; rationalizing; salience; life-change and identity; taking control and self-management. A line of argument synthesis describes how older people approach self-appraisal of falls risk and intervention need, and how they cope and adapt to falls risk and intervention need. Conclusion. In response to having an elevated risk status and perceived associations with frailty and impact on an independent life-style, some prefer to adapt to this reality by taking control and implementing self-management strategies. Healthcare professionals should take into account beliefs about risk and negotiate choices for intervention, recognizing that some individuals prefer to drive the decision-making process to preserve identity as a competent and independent person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents data from a small study exploring the impacts of homophobia on the lives of older lesbian and gay Australians. Eleven in-depth interviews were conducted with older lesbians (6) and gay men (5) ranging in age from 65 to 79 years. The study found that participants’ sense of self was shaped by the dominant medical, legal and religious institutions of their youth that defined them as sick, immoral or criminal. Participants described enforced “cure” therapies, being imprisoned, having employment terminated and being disowned and disinherited by family. In this context, intimate relationships and social networks provided refuge where trust was rebuilt and sexuality affirmed. Many created safe spaces for themselves. This equilibrium was threatened with increasing age, disability and the reliance on health and social services. Participants feared a return to institutional control and a need to “straighten up” or hide their sexuality. In response, partners stepped into the role of caregiver, at times beyond their capacity and at a cost to their relationship. The study describes the importance of understanding social connections in the lives of older lesbians and gay men. It highlights the need for inclusive services to ensure that social networks are supported and that health and well-being are promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aim To examine sexual desire in older age and the use of pharmaceuticals for sexual enhancement in the context of erectile dysfunction. Background The ability of the older person to fulfil sexual desire has not been well supported in Western society. Design The paper draws on themes that emerged during a phenomenological study of sexual desire in older age. Method Narratives were collected between 2008-2010 from in-depth interviews with six men and two women aged 65-84 years who were part of a larger Australian study of sexual desire in older age. Findings Emergent themes reveal that for some older people, the biomedicalization of sex can be a disappointing experience. Conclusion The findings illuminate the need for nurses who are at the front line of health care, health policy makers and educators, to consider sexual desire experienced in older age in the context of sexual health and healthy ageing. This study will contribute to a growing body of knowledge about sexual desire in older age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caring for elderly relatives has predominately been explored from the standpoint of the needs and experiences of the hegemonic culture in multicultural countries like Australia, Canada and the United States of America. Australia, in particular, has paid scant attention to cultural and linguistically diverse groups in relation to caring for the aged. In this paper we focus on Chinese-Australian families caring for elderly relatives. We explore the traditional value of filial piety which is said to underpin social norms and beliefs about caring for aged parents in Chinese cultures. Specifically we draw on four in-depth interviews with Chinese-Australian care-givers of elderly relatives to identify meanings of filial piety and practices of filial piety. Findings indicate that while filial piety is still an important value in caring for the aged, meanings about how to practise filial piety are changing and vary across families. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]