RESEARCH
Our Research School
At Opal HealthCare we collaborate with leading tertiary education providers and other cross-sector organisations on research projects to improve aged care delivery. Participating in research, and leading our own in-place research programs, means we are continually learning as an organisation. These learnings inform and support innovation and our care delivery.
RESEARCH IN ACTION
We undertake research programs in our Care Communities to improve the way residential aged care is delivered and raise the bar for the aged care sector. We do this in collaboration with world-class tertiary research partners on subjects and fields of practice across the spectrum of aged care.
Examples of Research programs
Contextual factors influencing talk in Australian residential aged care
Opal HealthCare partnered with Torrens University in a research project on verbal communication in residential aged care. Three of our Care Communities in NSW participated in the project, which explored contextual factors that influence carer-to-resident communication in residential care settings. The research paper was published in the Journal of Health Organisation and Management in 2021 and is available online here.
Effect of dietary sources of calcium and protein on hip fractures and falls
The two-year trial led by the University of Melbourne and Austin Health included residents from Opal HealthCare’s Care Communities in Victoria. It was the first study to test the impact of providing additional calcium and protein through dairy foods on the risk of fractures and falls in older adults.Researchers concluded that the addition of dairy foods into the daily diet of our aged-care residents can reduce fractures and falls, as published in the British Medical Journal.
Other projects:
- Evaluating the impact of sleep, diet and exercise on brain health and clinical outcomes.
- Retrospective review of older Chinese people’s advanced care planning in residential aged care.
- Culturally appropriate palliative care for older Chinese people in residential aged care (qualitative study).