Misattention and problem solving in interactions between care workers and dementia care residents

What strategies do care workers adopt to balance the demands of regulation and emotional connection in dementia practice?

Aged and dementia care services are required to conform to multiple regulatory frameworks. How do these regulations enhance or constrain services? Researchers from the University of Melbourne and the Brotherhood of St. Laurence have investigated how regulation affects practices in dementia care.

This fourth Research Insight explores the day-to-day interactions between personal care workers and residents, and the strategies—notably ‘misattention’ and problem solving—that may be adopted to balance the demands of regulation and emotional connection.

This research is an activity of the Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre (CDPC), a national initiative funded jointly by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Alzheimer’s Australia, which supports the Consumer Dementia Research Network (CDRN), and three aged care industry partners—Brightwater Care Group, HammondCare and Helping Hand Aged Care.