Workspace environmental design evaluation to support the aged care workforce: Are we using the right evaluation approaches?

Objectives: Australia's aged care workforce is facing pressures due to increased demands from an ageing population. This paper reflects upon whether existing workspace environmental design evaluations are supporting the aged care workforce. Methods: This brief report was informed by a 2018 Optimising Aged Care Workspace Environment Symposium with three streams: (a) Developing, (b) Implementing and (c) Evaluating Aged Care Workspace Environments. Results: Symposium key messages included the following: 'evidence (lived experiences and feedback) from both older people and the aged care workforce needs to inform both development and implementation of aged care environment design'. The Evaluating Aged Care Workspace Environments stream key messages included the following: 'evaluation approaches are required that are responsive and appropriate to the complex dynamic aged care workspace contexts'. Conclusion: To better inform the design of future aged care settings and support the aged care workforce, principles‐focused evaluations of existing aged care settings with input from the aged care workforce are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]