Research contributions

The Board has made contributions to a diverse array of health services research initiatives. This includes PhD research projects and grant applications, broadening the impact and influence of lived experience on healthcare research. In this way, the Board extends its commitment to improving health services for individuals living with dementia and other cognitive impairments, going beyond the immediate boundaries of the eQC Project.

Development of a Picture-based Quality of Life Assessment Tool

Muhammad Haroon

The quality of life for people with moderate-to-severe dementia can decline, affecting their ability to communicate and report their own quality of life. Proxies, such as family members or care partners, often report on their behalf, but there can be differences between their reports and the person's own feelings. A new tool is needed that can assess quality of life for people with dementia, especially one that can overcome communication barriers. Picture-based questionnaires can help with this, but there are currently no such questionnaires available for dementia-specific quality of life assessments. This PhD project aims to develop and test a picture-based version of a specific questionnaire called the Alzheimer's Disease Five Dimensions (AD-5D). This questionnaire measures five domains that contribute to quality of life: mood, memory, physical health, living situation, and enjoyment of activities.

ACAT QIs

Sandra Smith

Contact: sandra.smith@uq.net.au

Quality Indicators (QIs) are like report cards for organizations, customers, and the community, helping us figure out when quality standards are being met or missed. It's vital that these QIs are accurate and really measure what they say they do. When we're trying to understand how good a service is, it's helpful to look at the setup, the process, and the results, including feedback from patients or clients.

Currently in Australia, there aren't any QIs for the Aged Care Assessment Program, which involves teams (ACATs) evaluating and suggesting the right care for older Australians. Until now, the Australian government has only used QIs for aged care services that are residential or at-home. This study aims to create a first set of QIs for the Aged Care Assessment Program, seen from the client's point of view. This could fill some considerable gaps in how we measure the quality of Australian Government Aged Care Services, from deciding who's eligible to how care is actually given to older Australians.

The study will use a blend of methods, including a Delphi method (a structured communication technique) and consensus voting, over three stages. Each stage will include some input from clients. The result will be a set of measures based on client feedback that describes the quality of the full Aged Care Assessment Process. As a useful tool, the study will deliver a QI dashboard that works like a scorecard. It can be used to interact with clients to gather valuable information that gauges how clients feel about the quality of the thorough aged care assessment process.