Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Restraint Use in Aged Care.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Healthcare Policy
• Qualitative Research Methods

Background:

• Media, research, and government inquiries highlight restraint use in Australian aged care.
• Federal legislation mandates restraint as a 'last resort' in residential aged care.
• Qualitative research aimed to understand stakeholder experiences and attitudes towards restraint practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To inform and develop government educational resources on aged care restraint.
• To explore stakeholder understanding and attitudes regarding restraint practices.
• To identify challenges and needs related to restraint use and legislation.

Main Methods:

• Conducted semi-structured interviews with 28 aged care stakeholders (nurses, care staff, physicians, allied health, relatives).
• Held two focus groups with senior management from residential and community aged care services.
• Employed thematic analysis with inductive and deductive coding for data interpretation.

Main Results:

• Identified five key themes: Understanding of restraint, support for legislation, impossibility of restraint-free environments, low-level restraint, and uncharted community restraint.
• Found a basic understanding of restraint but a need for conceptual education, particularly for low-level and chemical restraint.
• Stakeholders supported new regulations but lacked clarity on legislative details and desired practical guidance.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced conceptual education is crucial for identifying and avoiding various forms of restraint in aged care.
• While supporting restraint legislation, stakeholders require practical advice and recognition of necessary restraint situations.
• Restraint oversight is increasing in residential aged care, but community restraint use remains largely unaddressed and requires further investigation.