Aged Care Insite Issue 93 | February-March 2016 | Seite 8

news Life hacks for hospital Latest incarnation of guide for patients and their families offers more ways to avoid complications after admission. A new edition of an online resource that shows older patients and their families how to stay well while in hospital has launched. “Older people in hospital” has been developed through a close collaboration between a number of experts and groups, including the National Ageing Research Institute and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. It’s the third edition of Best Care for Older People Everywhere: the toolkit. Users can now listen to a series of audio-visual clips on ways to improve patient outcomes during a hospital stay. The resource also provides clinicians with access to evidence-based information on 16 topics. They include assessment, communication, person-centred practice, dementia, delirium, depression, Joiners live longer People who are retired have greater life expectancy and a healthier existence if they participate in social groups, study finds. R etirees who belong to social groups live longer, an Australian study has found. And the health and wellbeing benefits from belonging to groups such as book clubs or church organisations were found to be 6 agedcareinsite.com.au similar to those gained from regular exercise. The findings prompted researchers to suggest social planning could be added to financial planning for retirees trying to adjust to their new lives. The University of Queensland study, published in the journal BJM Open, tracked the health of 424 people in England for six years after they had retir