Aged Care Insite Issue 92 | December 2015 - January 2016 | Page 15

industry & policy Discussions with stakeholders demonstrate the many ways the sector is pursuing quality as the landscape shifts. By Dallas Bastian and Amie Larter F or the last edition of the year, Aged Care Insite spoke to six stakeholders to determine the big wins for the industry in 2015, and what to expect from the year ahead. Workforce strategy and planning, funding and quality of life for older Australians will remain top priorities for the sector in 2016. BRIONY DOW DIRECTOR, NATIONAL AGEING RESEARCH INSTITUTE Quality of care was high on the research agenda in 2015, and associate professor Briony Dow, director of the National Ageing Research Institute, says this will continue in 2016. “There’s been a lot of focus on quality care, which I think is important,” Dow says. “The government in particular [is looking to measure this and develop quality indicators].” One of the important markers, Dow says, is how you measure quality of life for older people who require care. It’s a question she says governments and researchers across the world are working to answer. “Quality of life … we still don’t really know exactly what that means to older people, particularly older people from a range of different backgrounds. What does quality of life mean if you are an old, Indigenous person living with dementia in a remote community? [Likewise], if you are a 65-year-old Greek woman who is caring for her mother as well as a disabled child?” She points to the current work of professor Gill Livingston from University College London, who spoke at the Australian Association of Gerontology conference in November. “[Livingston] spoke about a research project they are doing that is part of the Prime Minister’s [challenge on dementia],” Dow says. “They’re looking at how you improve quality of life