A Practical Guide for Aged Care Workers

Aged Care with Altruism is a practical guide on how best to provide care, what personal qualities are useful, and some difficulties one might encounter. It describes both the practical component of providing care, with altruism, which is the regard for others as a principle of action. ‘Aged Care with Altruism’ seeks to fill a gap in the knowledge base, for educators, aged care workers, and prospective aged care workers.

It incorporates contemporary philosophies towards a more holistic caring attitude in aged care practice. As a teaching guide and prescribed reading text, Aged Care with Altruism is deliberately written in a manner that will be readily understood by care workers who are already working with older people, and prospective care workers who may be thinking of entering aged care work. Care workers will come to appreciate that older people, are people first. Just as the young are sometimes penalized for their youth, so too are the aged sometimes penalized for being old. Why should human characteristics like exuberance, vitality, caution and wit be designated to a particular age group, or the physical appearance of tattoos, piercing, wrinkles or walking frames evoke prejudices in our society? Developing a tolerance and understanding of individuality, regardless of age, gender, weight and height, and placing value on attributes such as sincerity, kindness and honesty may reduce the penalty of being old, young, an individual. As the bumper sticker says, “What the heck is ‘normal’ anyhow”?

Australia is facing a well-recognised demographic change. As the number, and proportion, of older people in the population increases, the training and retention of aged care workers will become a pressing need. As an encouragement for genuine care workers to train and remain engaged in care work, I am hoping Aged Care with Altruism will be widely read and the information used positively to enhance later life living for older people.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JK Pearce, Diploma in Home Science, Graduate Certificate in Gerontology, has been engaged in the study of older people and ageing (gerontology), and has worked extensively with older people for forty years. She is a member of the Australian Association of Gerontology. Having lived and worked in a rural area of outback Australia for 20 years, she has personally assisted, in her professional role as an aged care provider, nearly three quarters of the residents aged 85 years and over to continue living independently in their own homes. This book consolidates her knowledge of current gerontological research with her substantial practical experience of working with older people.