“Currently, around half of all aged care residents have substantial symptoms of depression,” psychologist Tanya Davison told ABC Radio National’s Life Matters in March.
“[People] have been removed from their communities and previous sources of social engagement. They often report feeling bored, that they don't have activities to do [that are] personally meaningful for them,” Davison said.
The ABC report quotes a resident as saying that moving into an aged care residence was “a very sudden trauma ... Moving from a two-bedroom unit into a one-room home is really quite confronting … I’d left behind my furniture, many of my clothes, my keepsakes, my books.”
To some extent it is inevitable that a move into an unfamiliar physical and social environment will be stressful.
But stress can be alleviated by staff training and better staffing levels.
Green Left spoke to Mary*, a resident of an aged care home in Naarm/Melbourne. She is unable to stand up by herself. If she wants to get up from her bed or her chair, she needs to summon staff members to help.
She has a buzzer. But the staff often do not come straight away: they may be busy with other residents, in a staff meeting, or on a break.
Mary sometimes gets frustrated and screams: staff can often become annoyed and reprimand her.
What can be done to improve the situation?
More staff would be able to look after several residents at once. If their training was better, they would be better able to understand the frustration felt by residents, such as Mary.
Care work is labor-intensive. Governments and private aged care companies want to keep wage costs and training costs down.
Mary believes that if she had more physiotherapy she may be able to stand up by herself. But the physiotherapist only sees her intermittently.
Mary also has a pain in her arm. Her GP has referred her to a specialist, but there is a long waiting list.
Mary had a few sessions with a psychologist some time ago. She would like more, but the psychologist has not returned.
It seems there are not enough doctors, physiotherapists, or psychologists to meet all the needs of aged care residents.
[* Mary is a pseudonym.]