Workplace design for the Australian residential aged care workforce

Aims

This research explored residential aged care (RAC) workplace design features that influence how RAC staff feel valued, productive, safe, like they belong and connected. A secondary aim was to validate emerging themes about RAC design features with stakeholders.

Key Expertise Provided:

• Bridging gap between research and practice: literature review of the influence of spatial design on aged care health workforce practices
• Evidence informed practice: conducting research to building the evidence about what influence spatial design has on aged care staff.
• Research Translation: Working with International Design forms and residential aged care facilities to utilise evidence into practice

Methodology:

• Literature review
• Photo elicitation
• Qualitative interviews and focus group discussion

Findings:

This is research has identified key workplace design features that matter to RAC staff in a ‘shared workspace’. The increasing demands upon RAC require evidence-based workplace design policy, models and evaluation approaches that support RAC staff to work in RAC shared workspaces.

Naccarella, L; Newton, C; Pert, A; Seemann, K; Williams, R; Sellick, K; Dow, B. (2018). Workplace design for the Australian residential aged care workforce. Australasian Journal on Ageing.DOI;10.111/ajag.12493