Trialling an electronic decision aid for policy developers to support ageing well.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health Policy
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Increasing longevity necessitates comprehensive aged care services for successful ageing.
• Ageing well requires quality care and resources, including healthcare, end-of-life care, mental health, dementia support, and healthy ageing initiatives.
• Policy development and service planning for ageing populations rely on evidence from diverse sources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a policy tool framework to assist in planning aged care services for ageing well in rural and regional Australia.
• To create and pilot an electronic version of this policy tool for improved accessibility and usability.
• To assess the acceptability of a tablet-based application for policy developers in creating evidence-based ageing well policies.

Main Methods:

• A National Health and Medical Research Council funded project to create a policy tool.
• Development and piloting of a tablet-based application for electronic data collection.
• Testing the application with policy makers and service planners involved in ageing well policy development.

Main Results:

• The development and trialling of a tablet-based application were described.
• The study assessed the acceptability of computerised forms for policy development participants.
• The paper reports on policy developers' experiences with the electronic tool for supporting ageing well policy.

Conclusions:

• An electronic tool shows potential for supporting evidence-based policy making in aged care.
• The pilot demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of using tablet-based applications in this context.
• Further development and implementation of such tools can enhance planning for ageing well in Australia.