Health-promoting residential aged care: a pilot project in Austria: Fig. 1:

Abstract

Long-term care for the aged is an area that has not been in the focus of health promotion so far. The paper describes context, concept and project plan of a 2-year pilot project of comprehensive health-promoting setting development in residential aged care in Austria, and provides an overview over main experiences and results. Austria's most relevant health promotion agencies, a specialized scientific institute and Austria's largest provider of aged care acted as partners. The project aimed at developing elements of a comprehensive approach, but also providing evidence for the effectiveness of health promotion. Therefore, the project combined an organizational development approach with a scientific, randomized controlled study on mobility enhancement for residents. A comprehensive settings approach turned out acceptable for the main stakeholders of aged care (owners and management, staff, residents and residents' relatives). Strategy development, based on a systematic needs assessment, found staff health to be of special interest for the organization (ergonomics, workability over life course), and residents' relatives, got more attention. The mobility study was able to achieve positive results on occupational performance, concerning quality-of-life indicators and reached also formerly inactive groups. After the end of the project, health promotion is still on the agenda of the organization; further developments will be monitored. Good support from the policy level and well-established networking between the aged care provider, health promotion agencies and a network for health promotion in health care seems to have been an important resource for success.

Effectiveness of a low-threshold physical activity intervention in residential aged care – results of a randomized controlled trial

“…The study was conducted as part of a larger health-promotion project in RAC in Vienna, involving three units of Austria’s largest (semi-public) provider. 11 The facilities offer a mix of assisted living and nursing care, combining different forms, ranging from apartments to nursing ward structures. There were no considerable differences in living conditions between the different locations and their residents.…”

Libraries as ‘everyday’ settings: the GlasgowMCISSproject

“…Recent work has thus promoted what Torp et al (2014) call 'everyday' settings: e.g. pharmacies (Maher et al, 2014); care homes (Krajic et al, 2014); sports stadia (Drygas et al, 2013); tennis clubs (Pluim et al, 2014); shopping malls (Haber, 2013); prisons (Caraher et al, 2002) and even 'virtual' social networking sites (Loss et al, 2014). In this context, libraries have recently emerged as another potential setting (Dowse & Sen, 2007), being seen as particularly accessible and equitable 'hubs' (Parker & Kreps, 2005) that can variously: provide access to health information (Linnan et al, 2004); promote health literacy (Chobot, 2010); link to 'signposted' services ) and ultimately foster 'empowerment' and 'social capital' (Johnson, 2010).…”

Attitudes and needs of residents in long‐term care facilities regarding physical activity—A systematic review and synthesis of qualitative studies

“…From the residents' point of view, being physically active is an important part of their perceived quality of life. Nevertheless, promoting health and especially mobility in nursing homes are not very common, and nurses often do not support residents sufficiently (Krajic, Cichocki, & Quehenberger, 2015). Therefore, the physical activities of residents decrease steadily after admission to a nursing home (Ikezoe, Asakawa, Shima, Kishibuchi, & Ichihashi, 2013).…”