Quality Standards Resource Centre

The Commission has developed a number of resources to help aged care consumers understand what dignity of risk is and what actions you should expect from your provider. The dignity of risk is another way of saying you have the right to live the life you choose.

This guide addresses the assessment and management of urinary incontinence in older adults. It outlines a stepwise approach to evaluation, including identifying transient causes, detailed history-taking, medication review, and focused examination. It provides information on management including lifestyle measures, medications, bladder drainage options, and potential referral to specialists based on individual needs and the type of incontinence.

This guide addresses the assessment and management of urinary incontinence in older adults. It outlines a stepwise approach to evaluation, including identifying transient causes, detailed history-taking, medication review, and focused examination. It provides information on management including lifestyle measures, medications, bladder drainage options, and potential referral to specialists based on individual needs and the type of incontinence.

This guide covers fall prevention and management in older adults, focusing on assessing fall risks, involving multidisciplinary teams (e.g. physiotherapists, occupational therapists), and recommending both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions. It includes steps for post-fall assessments, medication review, and strategies for preventing injuries, with a comprehensive approach to improving outcomes in aged care.
 

This guide addresses mental health in older adults, including social isolation, depression, anxiety, suicide risk, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. It provides consensus-based recommendations for tailored interventions, diagnosis through validated assessments, and management strategies that combine clinical and non-clinical approaches.

This guide provides recommendations for dermatological care in older adults, addressing skin integrity, sun damage, bruising, and wound management. It highlights factors affecting skin health, like systemic disease, medication, and environmental exposure. It recommends regular skin assessments, non-pharmacological interventions, moisturisation, and tailored approaches for managing conditions like ulcers, pruritus, and skin cancer in aged care settings.

This guide provides strategies for managing pain in older adults in aged care, focusing on assessment, non-pharmacological treatments, and pharmacological interventions. It includes practice points on appropriate medication use, considerations for pain assessment tools, and recommendations for safe management, including tailored care and treatment monitoring to improve quality of life.

This guide addresses polypharmacy in aged care, focusing on identifying inappropriate prescribing and reviewing all medications, including prescription, over-the-counter and complementary and alternative medicines. It includes recommendations for reducing medication use through deprescribing, ensuring medication safety, and regular review of renal and hepatic functions. Tools such as Beers Criteria and other screening frameworks are provided to support optimal medication management in older adults.

This guide focuses on deprescribing in aged care, aiming to reduce unnecessary or potentially harmful medications. It provides a framework for reviewing medication, assessing risks and benefits, developing tapering plans, and involving multidisciplinary teams. It provides recommendations including; patient-cantered communication, establishing written plans for medication withdrawal, and monitoring outcomes to improve quality of life.

This resource provides information on the Home Medicines Review (HMR) program, designed to support the safe and effective use of medicines for patients at home. It outlines the process, eligibility criteria, program variations, claiming and payments, rural loading allowance, and guidance for pharmacists and healthcare providers involved in medication reviews

This fact sheet outlines the requirements for enrolled nurses (ENs) in Australia regarding the administration of medicines. It details the education and qualifications needed to administer medications, the specific conditions under which ENs may administer intravenous medicines, and guidance on removing any limitations from their registration. The document also emphasises adherence to legislation, policies, and safe practices.

This resource provides information on communication difficulties an person may encounter after experiencing a stroke. It discusses how strokes can affect communication, treatment to assist with communication, information on recovery, communication tips for family and friends and help resources for individuals.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (the Commission) undertakes a range of regulatory activities to monitor compliance and mitigate risk to aged care consumers. The Commission has incorporated spot check monitoring of infection control practice into its usual regulatory activities. You can find more information about Infection control spot checks here. 

To Dip or Not to Dip (TDONTD) is a quality improvement intervention successfully implemented in UK and Australian aged care homes to improve UTI assessment and antibiotic prescribing appropriateness.

This implementation guide has been drawn from the experiences of homes and champions who have implemented TDONTD, along with feedback from aged care nurses and personal care assistants who have used TDONTD resources.

Infection prevention and control helps to stop the spread of germs like bacteria and viruses that cause respiratory infections and gastroenteritis. Hand hygiene is a very important part of this. 

In this video you will learn how to clean another person's hands.

Infection prevention and control, also known as IPC, are the steps and processes that people can use to reduce the spread of harmful germs and bacteria. 

People who visit aged care services can help support IPC processes.

Older Australians, particularly those that reside in residential aged care settings or in multigenerational households, are vulnerable to the ongoing risk of contracting and becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 and other highly infectious illnesses such as influenza and gastroenteritis.

These colouring resources have been designed specifically for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission with the intention of providing a multifaceted creative experience for older Australians living in residential or home aged care settings, and for the people who care for them.

This resource offers tools and strategies for navigating care transitions for people living with dementia. It provides support to hospital, aged care staff, and family carers, ensuring that the unique needs of those with dementia are met during transitions, such as moving from hospital to aged care or home.

The partner information pack presents information for all people visiting and volunteering in residential aged care services. The resource includes information on the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC), the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and changes in what you need to do if you visit during an outbreak.