Christy Hunt
Workforce Development Project Manager, ELDAC Project
Managing risk and providing services that allow the resident to lead a self-determined and self-fulfilling life can sometimes be challenging for staff. The ELDAC Managing Risk Toolkit has been designed for health professionals and care staff providing palliative care and advance care planning for older people living in residential care with advanced life-limiting illnesses, their families and carers. It provides information and guidance on managing risk at the end of life for people living in residential aged care and their families.
The Managing Risk Toolkit comprises a series of resources that aim to build understanding and capability to improve the end-of-life experiences of aged care residents. Related resources cover the topics of Nutrition and Hydration, Medication Management and Transfers of residents between care settings and towards the end of life.
The Toolkit resource has been informed by a review of contemporary Australian and international literature including authoritative sources on the Australian policy, legal and practice environment. Additionally, nurses from different aged care settings participated in three focus groups offering their perspectives, with experts from within the ELDAC network then reviewing the Toolkit content.
Effective governance and risk management are critical to safe, effective, appropriate and quality aged care. Aged care providers are expected to identify, manage and continuously review risks to aged care consumers and others - including maintaining a risk management system. The ELDAC Managing Risk Toolkit provides resources to help staff to:
- Identify and assess potential risks,
- Respond to and monitor identified risks,
- Record and then report risks.
Working in residential aged care and clinical governance requires understanding and using your organisation’s risk management system and ensuring the system guides your practice. This creates a connected, inclusive, holistic approach to risk management across the organisation. While the risks to residents at the end of life may change in the palliative care context, the systems and governance to support risk management will not.
*The views and opinions expressed in Knowledge Blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of ARIIA, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.