None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Evidence demonstrates that being outdoors and exposed to greenery has a positive impact on our physical and mental health. Numerous studies have explored interventions that support older people living in Residential Aged Care Facilities to participate in outdoor activities such as gardening and walking groups resulting in a variety of benefits such as reductions in depression, stress, falls and vitamin D deficiency. However, Residential Aged Care Facilities often report that outdoor spaces are unused. Common barriers include the design of the outdoor space and the main building (access points and their usability), safety concerns and staffing issues, weather and access to shelter, and lack of social activities. This study aims to reduce these barriers by co-designing with residents, their family/carers and staff an intervention at three Residential Aged Care Facilities in Victoria, Australia to improve safe access to and satisfaction with outdoor spaces. This in turn will increase opportunities for residents to access the benefits that we know time spent outdoors provides.
Interventions
The intervention will involve an action research cycle (Defining the problem -> Action planning -> Taking action -> Analysis and evaluation -> Specifying learning and reflection) conducted in a residential aged care facility (RACF). Three facilities will implement the intervention. They include a mix of facility types and sizes in rural and metropolitan Victoria. Over a 4 month period, the intervention will be developed and implemented using an Action Plan Template and guidelines. This will incl
The intervention will involve an action research cycle (Defining the problem -> Action planning -> Taking action -> Analysis and evaluation -> Specifying learning and reflection) conducted in a residential aged care facility (RACF). Three facilities will implement the intervention. They include a mix of facility types and sizes in rural and metropolitan Victoria. Over a 4 month period, the intervention will be developed and implemented using an Action Plan Template and guidelines. This will include the following steps: Step 1 (month 1): Baseline data (environmental audit, resident, family and staff surveys, policy review, routinely collected data on outdoor activities) will inform our understanding of the barriers to residents accessing outdoor spaces at each RACF. This data will be presented at a facility wide co-design workshop (1-2hours) where staff, residents, family and visitors will be invited to attend. An external research team member will present the baseline data. Possible priorities to address and strategies for safely improving outdoor access and activity will be discussed. Step 2 (month 2): After this initial workshop, a smaller working group will be established with interested staff, residents and their family/carers who will undertake the action research cycle at their facility. The working group will be supported by the external research team who will provide any information regarding research evidence to support the process and inform decisions and the action plan. Step 3 (month 2): The working group will determine up to four goals to overcome barriers to safe access to outdoor spaces at their facility. While small environmental modifications could be required to facilitate this process, we envisage that the strategies developed will focus on staff policies and practices and the development of activities that promote outdoor use. Large physical design modifications are out of the scope of this project but suggestions can be provided to facilities as part of the feedback process. Step 4 (month 2): The working group will develop an action plan using an Action Plan Template and guidelines developed for this project but based on previous work using action research (Haralambous B, et al. 2010: A protocol for an individualised, facilitated and sustainable approach to implementing current evidence in preventing falls in residential aged care facilities. BMC Geriatrics, 17; 10). This includes naming the person responsible to complete each action, setting a timeline, identifying and obtaining resources needed and planning for possible obstacles to change. Step 5 (months 3-4): The working group supported by the research team will implement, monitor and evaluate the roll-out of the action plan. The process for evaluating the action plan will be developed and incorporated into the action plan. For example, if the action plan aims to increase the number of outdoor morning teas arranged by the activities co-ordinator, then we will use existing data to audit how frequently they were previously run and the target number per week or fortnight that they intend to run them in the future. This will be monitored through the implementation and if the targets are not reached we will examine barriers to this and how we could overcome these barriers. This is a pragmatic study that will be implemented and tailored taking account of local contexts and resources. The scale of the intervention as well as duration, frequency and number of meetings will vary according to these contexts. Each facility will receive funding to cover staff and equipment costs for implementing the study. Meetings will be held in person in each RACF. External researchers who will support the process will either attend in person or online depending on health and safety restrictions during the global pandemic. If there are no restrictions they will aim to have a mix of face to face and video-conferencing meetings. We will assess implementation of the intervention through recording number of meetings and attendance, completion of an action plan and extent to which action plan was implemented.
Sponsors
Melbourne Ageing Research Collaboration
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Other
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
All residents, their family/carers and facility staff at each site are eligible to participate.
Exclusion criteria
Any resident or family unable to verbally communicate in English will not be eligible to participate. Staff who are unable to read English may not be able to complete the staff surveys.
Outcome results
None listed