What are education and empowerment for older people, families and communities?
Education and empowerment of older people, families, and communities are core to rights‑based care. While educating the workforce is essential, rights-based care also relies on older people and those around them having access to clear information and practical support. These supports help older people understand their rights and feel confident to participate in decisions and speak up about care.
Education and empowerment include activities that build people’s knowledge, awareness, confidence, and ability to engage with aged care systems and services. [1, 2]
Education and empowerment can occur at different levels:
- Individual level – older people and families seeking information to understand aged care, their rights, available options, and to take part in care decisions. [1, 3]
- Organisational level – aged care workers and services providing tailored, person‑centred information and creating opportunities for choice and shared decision‑making. [3, 4]
- System and community level – policies, programs, and public education initiatives that build broader awareness of rights and expectations of care. [2, 5, 6]
Together, these levels shape whether older people and families are empowered to have a voice, make choices, and advocate for rights‑based care.
Why does this matter for rights-based care?
Rights‑based care depends on people understanding their rights and being supported to exercise them. The Statement of Rights affirms older people’s rights to dignity, autonomy, empowerment, and freedom of choice. [7]
Genuine choice and control depend on access to reliable, understandable information. Without this, autonomy and empowerment remain largely theoretical, and rights cannot be realised in everyday care. [3]
Education for older people and families
Education supports older people to participate actively in their own care and to exercise their rights as decision‑makers. Practical, rights‑focused information helps people understand the options available to them and how to act on concerns or disagreements about care. [1] Education is closely linked to confidence to speak up about care decisions and respond to mistreatment, including fear of retaliation in care settings. [1]
Clear, practical information can help older people and families to:
- understand what their rights mean in practice,
- make informed decisions about care and treatment,
- recognise when care does not align with rights‑based principles, and
- raise concerns or seek advocacy support when needed.
Effective education for older people is clear, accessible, and practical, and uses formats that support understanding and relevance. [1, 5] It explains what rights look like in everyday care, including how choices can be made, how preferences can be expressed, and how concerns can be raised. [3, 5]
Supported decision-making and the role of education
Families and supporters play a critical role in helping older people to exercise their rights, particularly where dementia, cognitive impairment, or complex care needs are present. Families often act as informal system navigators and advocates, making their access to accurate and timely information crucial. However, gaps in family knowledge about dementia, person‑centred care, consent, and rights can undermine rights‑based care. [8] Family and supporter education should be treated as a shared responsibility between services and families, particularly in relation to dementia, consent, and supported decision‑making. [4, 8, 9]
Education is essential to supported decision‑making, which is now explicitly embedded in Australian aged care law and policy. [9] Supported decision‑making upholds an older person’s right to make their own decisions, with assistance they choose. Services should embed supported decision‑making and person‑centred care into everyday practice, aligning care delivery with legal and policy frameworks. [3, 9]
For supported decision‑making to operate meaningfully in practice, older people need to understand their rights and options, supporters need to understand their roles and boundaries, and services need to be equipped to embed supported decision‑making into routine care. [3, 4, 9] Education about consent, substitute decision‑making, and supported decision‑making is critical to ensuring that legal and policy reforms genuinely support autonomy. [4, 9]
Community education and engagement
Education and empowerment extend beyond care settings. Rights are supported not only through individual knowledge, but through shared social understanding of dignity, autonomy, and participation. [2, 6]
Community‑level education and awareness‑raising play an important role in reinforcing expectations of rights‑based aged care across society. [2, 5, 6] Community education initiatives, such as seminars and community‑based programs, improve public knowledge about issues such as restraint, consent, and end‑of‑life rights, and increase confidence to question care practices and advocate for rights‑based care. [5] Importantly, this evidence frames education not only as an individual responsibility, but as a shared and system‑level obligation within aged care.
Education is most effective when it is combined with ongoing engagement. Awareness and empowerment are built through participation, consultation, listening, and dialogue, rather than one‑off information provision. [1, 6]
Meaningful education and empowerment
Meaningful education includes older people, families, and communities in service design and improvement, feedback and complaints processes, and ongoing conversations about care, rights, and expectations. [1, 6] Education and engagement together create the conditions for meaningful empowerment.
Human rights education is also essential for accountability, recognition of harm, and systemic change. [10] It has a role in preventing future harms as part of the reparation process for harms that have taken place in residential aged care. [10]
Want to learn more?
- This information sheet from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing describes the new Aged Care Act and the Statement of rights for consumers, carers, and family members.
- This toolkit from the University of Queensland provides guidance into consumer engagement in care services.
- OPAN’s self-advocacy toolkit helps older people understand their rights and speak up about their aged care needs and concerns. It includes clear information on aged care options, handling problems, protection from harm, decision-making, and costs to support stronger, rights-focused engagement with service providers.
What can be done?
Provide clear, rights‑based information
Policy makers:
- Ensure legislation, guidance, and public information clearly explain older people’s rights and how these apply in everyday aged care settings, including decision‑making, consent, and complaints pathways.
- Fund and support accessible, plain‑language information resources that help people understand aged care systems, services, and entitlements.
Aged care providers and organisations:
- Provide older people and families with accurate, accessible, rights‑based information about care, treatment, and decision‑making. Clearly explain how rights are upheld in practice.
- Offer information in multiple formats (written, verbal, supported, plain language).
- Actively check people’s understanding, rather than assuming they are familiar with rights or systems.
- Ensure people are informed about supports that can help them navigate the aged care system and advocate for their rights, including OPAN and My Aged Care.
Aged care workers:
- Explain rights in practical terms during everyday interactions, including how choices can be exercised and concerns raised.
- Support older people and families to understand their options and to ask questions about care and decision‑making.
Older people and families:
- Use information, advocacy services, and supports that are available to better understand rights, care options, and decision‑making processes.
- Ask questions to clarify and raise concerns when care does not align with stated rights or preferences.
The evidence:
- Education for recipients of aged care services can empower older people to understand and exercise their rights in care settings. This education should be practical and rights‑focused, including helping residents understand what options are available to them and how to act on concerns. [1]
- Clear, accessible information enables older people to actively engage with care decisions. [5]
- Access to reliable information is crucial for effective consumer‑directed care in aged care. It allows people to have the knowledge to consider their options for care. [3]
- Service providers need to provide accurate information about care, treatment options, and support services that they offer. [3]
- Enabling access to advocacy services helps protect the rights and wellbeing of people receiving care. [3]
Strengthen family, supporter and community education
Policy makers:
- Recognise families and supporters in policy and guidance as key participants in rights‑based care, particularly in supported decision‑making and dementia care.
- Support education initiatives that build family understanding of consent, decision‑making, and person‑centred care.
- Encourage whole‑of‑community approaches that reinforce rights‑based care beyond individual services.
Aged care providers and organisations:
- Include families and supporters in education about dementia, person‑centred care, consent, and supported decision‑making, rather than limiting education to staff only.
- Provide clear information about care practices, decision‑making roles, and responsibilities to reduce confusion and conflict.
- Treat education as a shared responsibility between services and families, not an individual burden.
- Participate in or support community education initiatives aligned with rights‑based care.
Aged care workers:
- Engage families as partners in care by explaining care approaches, decision‑making processes, and how rights are respected in practice.
- Support families in their roles as supporters and advocates, particularly where care needs are complex.
- Contribute to community education and awareness‑raising where appropriate, including sharing information about rights and care practices.
Older people and families:
- Participate in education and discussions about care, consent, and decision‑making where possible.
- Use education and information to support shared understanding and collaboration with aged care workers and services.
- Participate in community education and awareness activities to build knowledge of rights and confidence to engage with care services.
- Share experiences and perspectives to strengthen broader understanding of rights‑based care.
The evidence:
- Families are also a critical audience for education and awareness‑raising, especially regarding decision‑making, consent, and care practices. [1]
- Gaps in family knowledge can undermine person‑centred and rights‑based care. Family education about dementia and person‑centred care is an area requiring deliberate attention. [8]
- Both staff and residents’ families need to understand the importance of person‑directed care planning for resident wellbeing. [11]
- Education can be a shared protective strategy for both older people and their families. [1]
- Community education can increase knowledge about restraint, consent, and end‑of‑life rights. [5]
- Rights can be supported not only through individual education, but also through collective understanding. [2]
- Increasing the public’s understanding of rights, care practices, and participation can reinforce demand for rights‑based aged care. [6]
Build learning-oriented care cultures
Policy makers:
- Recognise learning and education as part of quality, rights‑based care, including lifelong learning for older people.
- Support policies and funding that encourage learning‑oriented care environments.
Aged care providers and organisations:
- Create environments that value learning and participation for residents, distinguishing learning opportunities from purely recreational activities.
- Work with community organisations to expand educational opportunities within residential and community settings.
- Treat education as part of system learning, accountability, and prevention following harm, including links to reparation and change.
Aged care workers:
- Support residents’ participation in learning activities that promote purpose, agency, and engagement.
- Contribute to learning cultures by reflecting on practice and supporting continuous improvement.
Older people and families:
- Engage in learning opportunities that support participation, wellbeing, and connection with the wider community.
- Use education as a way to build confidence, agency, and involvement in care and decision‑making.
The evidence:
- Learning opportunities support individuals to grow, thrive, and feel a sense of purpose. Learning programs are different to recreational activities. [12]
- Education has a role in preventing future harms as part of the reparation process for harms that have occurred in residential aged care. [10, 13]
- Human rights education is essential for accountability, recognition of harm, and systemic change. [13]