E. Beattie

E. Beattie
Queensland University of Technology | QUT · School of Nursing

PhD

About

232
Publications
67,343
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5,643
Citations

Publications

Publications (232)
Article
Full-text available
Background The present study intended to gain insight into curricula gaps and explore recommendations for change to improve undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes and skills in gerontological nursing in Ghana. Methods A qualitative exploratory design was selected for this study. This study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, sem...
Article
Arts on prescription at home (AoP@Home) is a participatory art-based approach involving a professional artist engaging a person with dementia (and their family carer) in art-making in their own home. This study evaluated the implementation of AoP@Home within a real-world community aged care context. A hybrid effectiveness-implementation design was...
Article
Full-text available
Issue Addressed This study explores experiences of people with dementia and family carers who participated in an Arts on Prescription at Home (AoP@Home) program, artists who delivered the AoP@Home program and the managers who coordinated the AoP@Home programs. Methods Semi structured interviews were conducted with the three stakeholder groups to e...
Article
Full-text available
Background Decisions surrounding the permanent residential care placement of people living with dementia can be stressful and distressing; however, providing access to targeted information and support prior to placement may help carers better cope. This mixed methods study aimed to test the feasibility, acceptability, and potential benefits of prov...
Article
Full-text available
Background Anxiety is commonly experienced by people living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Whilst there is strong evidence for late-life anxiety treatment using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and delivery via telehealth, there is little evidence for the remote delivery of psychological treatment for anxiety in people living...
Article
Full-text available
Background Patients with cognitive impairment are at greater risk of hospital acquired complications, longer hospital stays, and poor health outcomes compared to patients without cognitive impairment. The Cognitive Impairment Support Program is a multi-disciplinary approach to improve screening rates and awareness of patients with cognitive impairm...
Preprint
Full-text available
• Background Anxiety is commonly experienced by people living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Whilst there is strong evidence for late-life anxiety treatment using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and delivery via telehealth, there is little evidence for the remote delivery of psychological treatment for anxiety in people livi...
Poster
Full-text available
Background: Cognitively impaired hospital patients often experience agitation and aggression due to pain. Agitation complicates care, increasing the risk of adverse outcomes and patient-to-nurse violence. Literature suggests nurses may rely on antipsychotics while missing other more appropriately targeted treatments. However, nurses’ management of...
Article
Most residential aged care facilities support residents to participate in activities and the importance of activities that are suited to individual preferences and abilities is widely acknowledged. Participating in activities, including those considered to be ‘meaningful’ has the potential to improve residents’ quality of life. However, what makes...
Article
Background: Prior to implementing new programmes or practices, it is essential to understand the context, barriers and enablers to support successful use. The tailored activity programme (TAP) is an evidence-based intervention provided by occupational therapists to support community-dwelling people living with dementia and their carers. The progra...
Article
Purpose: To identify the clinical indicators of acute deterioration in residents and the factors that influence residential aged care facility staff's identification of these. Design: Rapid review and narrative synthesis. Methods: The WHO and Cochrane Rapid Review Methods Group recommendations guided the review processes. CINAHL, Medline, PubM...
Article
Full-text available
Background Nurses are the largest group of registered healthcare professionals and are fundamental to delivering health and aged care in Australia. Aim To explore how nursing students report clinical experiences when caring for older people as part of a larger study investigating how care of the older person content is included in Australian under...
Article
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Background Nursing students encounter older people in all health care sectors; however, few choose a career primarily focused on older person's care. Aim To explore the challenges to teaching older person's care to Bachelor of Nursing students and how pre-registration nursing students are prepared to care for older people, part of a large study in...
Article
Background: Changed behaviours in residential aged care facilities (RACF) are frequently reported in the literature. How RACF staff routinely respond to these observed changed behaviours represents a significant gap. Objective: To analyse the frequency of changed behaviour reported within RACF behavioural report logs and to ascertain how staff t...
Article
Background cognitively impaired hospital patients often experience agitation and aggression due to pain. Agitation complicates care, increasing the risk of adverse outcomes and patient-to-nurse violence. Managing agitation is challenging for nurses. Literature suggests they may rely on antipsychotics while missing other more appropriately targeted...
Article
Full-text available
Background Meeting the complex health needs of an increasing number of older people is a critical workforce challenge for the Australian health and aged care sectors. Nurses are the largest group of registered health care professionals and fundamental to delivering health and aged care in Australia. However, while nursing students encounter increas...
Article
Background Prognostic uncertainty and the need for proxy decision-making owing to cognitive impairment in advanced dementia, adds complexity to end-of-life care planning within the long-term care setting. Case conferences provide a structure to facilitate difficult conversations and an opportunity for family and clinicians to engage in prospective...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives: To investigate electronic care notes to better understand reporting and management of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) by residential aged care (RAC) staff. Methods: We examined semi-structured care notes from electronic healthcare notes of 77 residents (67% female; aged 67–101; 79% with formal dementia diagnosis) across three RAC facil...
Article
Background Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms amongst people living with dementia in residential aged care is high. Their presence is associated with poorer quality of life for residents and higher burden of care for staff. Existing reviews have not focused on the evaluation of efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions in specific populati...
Article
Objectives This study evaluated a training program to support the delivery of consumer directed care (CDC). It was hypothesized that both interventions, compared to the control condition, would demonstrate increased levels of CDC in nursing homes, increased staff practice of CDC, and improved resident QoL. The training plus support group was expect...
Article
Objectives Spouses are at risk of poor psychosocial outcomes following placement of their partner with dementia into long-term care. The Residential Care Transition Module (RCTM) is a psychosocial intervention developed in the United States to support carers post-placement. This study aimed to test the RCTM delivered by telephone to Australian spou...
Article
Background and objectives Many spousal caregivers experience stress, depression, loneliness, guilt and grief when placing a partner with dementia into long-term care. However, there is little research about their transitional support experiences, needs and preferences. This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of these issues from spousal car...
Article
Background Pain-related agitation in hospital patients with dementia presents a diagnostic challenge as patients often cannot explain their agitation. Generally, a deductive process is required of staff, culminating in an analgesic trial. However, evidence suggests the deductions of hospital nurses may be flawed because they may not associate agita...
Article
Older people face major challenges when they move into nursing homes, particularly in relation to independence and their ability to influence their activities of daily living (ADLs). This study evaluated the contribution of resident choice, as well as the staff–resident relationship, to promoting resident quality of life (QoL). A total of 604 resid...
Article
Full-text available
Community mobility is an important social determinant of health. For people living with dementia, the forfeiture of a driving licence can signal a loss of independence, limiting access to activities outside of the home. Loss of community connectivity and social participation has a substantial impact on quality of life and may lead to depression and...
Article
Full-text available
In Australia one in five land searches conducted by Police involve a person with dementia. Over a third of these people go missing from a health care service and 15% are not found alive. Delays in commencing a specialised search for the missing person with dementia contributes to the risk of death. Delays in Police searching may result from ambigui...
Article
Background The availability of effective non‐pharmacological interventions to ameliorate discomfort of residents with neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) living in aged care remains a pressing sector need. The BPSD PLUS Program is a novel person‐centred care training and intervention program developed by the team to provide aged care staff with a struc...
Article
Objective This study aimed to identify the nature and effects of implementation strategies to increase the use of evidence-based, non-pharmacological interventions designed to reduce the frequency and/or severity of behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia, for people living in the community. Design This was a systematic revi...
Article
Objectives The tailored activity program (TAP) is an evidence-based occupational therapist-led intervention for people living with dementia and their care partners at home, developed in the USA. This study sought to understand its acceptability to people living with dementia, their care partners, and health professionals, and factors that might inf...
Article
Full-text available
Objective Driving and stopping driving present challenging issues for older people living with memory problems and the family members supporting them. Changes to driving status impact the individual stopping driving and their family members. CarFreeMe is an existing, effective driving cessation program for older people that may be applicable to old...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Background Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are very prevalent among individuals with dementia living in residential aged care. The development and implementation of new non-pharmacological interventions to reduce BPSD requires knowledge on the current perception and clinical practice of the care staff. We analyzed clinical...
Article
Full-text available
Although dementia is the largest independent risk factor for delirium and leads to poor health outcomes, we know little about how to prevent delirium in persons with dementia (PWD). The purpose of the current systematic literature review was to identify interventions designed to prevent delirium in older PWD. Seven studies meeting inclusion criteri...
Article
The number of patients attending acute care hospitals with a diagnosis of dementia is increasing. The impact of hospitalization on function and adverse events is perceived to be greater for patients with dementia than those without. This study compared adverse events (falls, wounds, delirium, medication errors, infections, and incontinence), functi...
Article
Full-text available
COVID-19 and Psychogeriatrics: The View from Australia - Nancy A. Pachana, Elizabeth Beattie, Gerard J. Byrne, Henry Brodaty
Article
Objectives: Education affects the attitudes and abilities of health professionals regarding older people. This study examines the nature and amount of ageing-related content in programs at universities and in continuing education in Queensland for disciplines involved in the direct care of older people. Methods: Surveys developed for the differe...
Article
Full-text available
This study aimed to describe Australian long-term care (LTC) personnel’s knowledge and attitudes concerning palliative care for residents with advanced dementia, and explore relationships with LTC facility/personnel characteristics. An analysis was undertaken of baseline data from a cluster randomised controlled trial of facilitated family case con...
Article
Full-text available
As the Australian population ages the demand for nursing care which focuses on responding to the needs of the older person will increase. Few newly graduated Registered Nurses (RNs) currently enter the aged care workforce and few select a career in caring for older people; yet older people are the largest patient group in most health care environme...
Article
Full-text available
People living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) must eventually stop driving. While some will voluntarily retire, many others will continue to drive until a crisis. In Australia, like many other countries, general physicians/practitioners (“GPs”) play a key role in monitoring driving safety and driver retirement with their patie...
Article
Background and aim: Irrespective of age, communication is a tool of expression and a key daily activity meeting the human need for social interaction and connection. The introduction of consumer-directed care (CDC) emphasises the importance of communication to provide consumers with the opportunity to exercise choice over the care they receive. As...
Article
Aims and objectives: Five of the eight focus areas of Bowen's Feasibility Framework were utilised to assess the feasibility of implementing the Safe Walking Program (SWP) with people with severe dementia who wander in long-term care (LTC). Background: Dementia-related wandering in LTC is associated with adverse outcomes related to intensity (mal...
Article
Objectives: The advent of Consumer-Directed Care (CDC, or individualized care) in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs, or residential care) will require a paradigm shift in service delivery. This article evaluated the six-session Resident at the Centre of Care (RCC) staff training program designed to equip staff to implement a CDC model of care...
Article
Objective The aim was to explore the natural disaster preparedness strategies of Australian residential aged care facilities (RACFs), focussing on aspects relevant to people with dementia. Methods An online survey was sent to 2617 RACF managers, with 416 responding. Questions included the following: (a) demographics; (b) presence and detail level...
Article
Full-text available
Background Underpinning standards for developing comprehensive care in hospital is the need to identify, early in the admission process, functional and psychosocial issues which affect patient outcomes. Despite the value of comprehensive assessment of patients on admission, the process is often sub-optimal due to a lack of standardized assessment p...
Data
Supplemental_PDF – Supplemental material for Development and Testing of the interRAI Acute Care: A Standardized Assessment Administered by Nurses for Patients Admitted to Acute Care
Article
Objectives: To compare a lifelike baby doll intervention for reducing anxiety, agitation, and aggression in older people with dementia in long-term care (LTC), with usual facility care; and explore the perceptions of care staff about doll therapy. Method: Pilot, mixed-methods, parallel, randomised controlled trial, with follow-up semi-structured in...
Article
Full-text available
Background Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) are moving towards a Consumer Directed Care (CDC) model of care. There are limited examples of CDC in ageing research, and no evaluation of a comprehensive CDC intervention in residential care was located. This study will implement and evaluate a staff training program, Resident at the Center of C...
Article
Full-text available
Attendance at day respite centers (DRCs) provides stimulation and socialization for people with dementia and respite time for family carers. Yet little is known about the quality of the dementia-specific care provided in DRCs. We conducted two-day on-site observational studies of seven Australian DRCs in 2017. Methods included: (A) assessing dement...
Article
Long term care (LTC) residents with dementia who engage in risky wandering experience adverse outcomes including weight loss, fatigue, injury from falls, resident to resident violence, becoming lost and death. Limited robust evidence currently informs best practice for managing risky wandering in LTC using non-pharmacological interventions. Two dif...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Prescribing medications for nursing home residents with advanced dementia should focus on optimizing function and comfort, reducing unnecessary harms and aligning care goals with a palliative approach. Objective: The aim of the study was to estimate the proportion of Australian nursing home residents with advanced dementia receiving...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Achieving sustainable practice changes to ensure best-practice nursing care in acute hospital environments can be challenging and is not well understood. A multi-faceted practice change intervention was implemented in a large Australian hospital to enhance the capacity of the nursing workforce to provide quality care for older patients...
Article
Dementia‐related wandering is exhibited by as many as 63% of people with dementia living in the community. There is strong evidence that people with dementia who wander are at risk of life‐threatening outcomes including injury from falls, exhaustion, weight loss, and becoming lost. Furthermore, carers have reported that fear of a person with dement...
Article
Objective: To identify, appraise and synthesize existing evidence regarding the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions on the psychological health and emotional well-being of family carers of people with dementia who have moved into residential care. Introduction: Many carers experience stress, guilt, grief and depression following placemen...
Article
Many health and social care research studies report difficulties recruiting sufficient numbers of participants, adding to time and money expenditures and potentially jeopardizing the generalizability of findings. The current article reports the effectiveness and resource requirements of recruitment strategies used in nine dementia-related studies c...
Article
Objectives The robotic seal, PARO, has been used as an alternative to animal-assisted therapies with residents with dementia in long-term care, yet understanding of its efficacy is limited by a paucity of research. We explored the effects of PARO on motor activity and sleep patterns, as measured by a wearable triaxial accelerometer. Study design C...
Article
Objectives: To explore whether severity of cognitive impairment and agitation of older people with dementia predict outcomes in engagement, mood states, and agitation after a 10-week intervention with the robotic seal, PARO. Design: Data from the PARO intervention-arm of a cluster-randomized controlled trial was used, which involved individual,...
Article
Objectives Educational initiatives can improve care delivery and the experience of living in residential aged care for people with dementia. This review aimed to determine the impact of nurse and care staff education on measures of functional ability and quality of life for older people with dementia living in care homes. Design Systematic review....
Article
Objective This study aimed to understand the circumstances in which people with dementia become lost, and the outcomes of these incidents. Methods A search was conducted of news articles published in Australia between 2011 and 2015 reporting a missing person with a diagnosis of dementia. Results Over the five‐year period, 130 missing person cases...
Article
Background In studies involving people with dementia, researchers have historically defaulted to seeking consent from a proxy, the assumption being that people with dementia are unable to provide their own informed consent. This choice denies people with dementia a voice in the consent process, thus disregarding their autonomy and agency. Recently,...
Article
This feasibility study aimed to identify and address the support needs of family carers (FCs) of people living with dementia and to assess whether the use of the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) intervention in home‐based care was acceptable and relevant to FCs. The CSNAT intervention comprised two FC support needs assessment visits, 7 w...
Article
Objectives: We undertook a cluster-randomised controlled trial exploring the effect of a therapeutic companion robot (PARO) compared to a look-alike plush toy and usual care on dementia symptoms of long-term care residents. Complementing the reported quantitative outcomes , this paper provides critical reflection and commentary on individual parti...
Article
Background Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are a common problem in long-term care facilities (LTC). Clinical guidelines dictate that first-line treatments for BPSD are psychosocial and behavioral interventions; if these are unsuccessful, psychotropic medications may be trialed at low doses and their effects can be monitored...
Article
Background: Although cognitive impairment including dementia and delirium is common in older hospital patients, it is not well recognized or managed by hospital staff, potentially resulting in adverse events. This paper describes, and reports on the impact of a collective social education approach to improving both nurses' knowledge of, and screen...
Article
Full-text available
The sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015 include a new target for global health: SDG 3 aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” Dementia care of good quality is particularly important given the projected increase in the number of people living with the condition. A range of ass...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Australia is striving toward a model of care that is both centered on and directed by the consumer. Consumer Directed Care (CDC) is expected to be mandated for Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) in the near future. The aim of this study was to implement and evaluate our Resident at the Center of Care (RCC) staff training program in RACFs. Thi...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
An understudied care setting for people with dementia is day respite. Government-funded day respite centres (DRC) provide opportunities for socialisation and activities to people with dementia and respite to family carers. This presentation fills a knowledge gap about what constitutes a “good day out” from three perspectives: DRC managers, DRC staf...
Article
Full-text available
Background Palliative care planning for nursing home residents with advanced dementia is often suboptimal. This study compared effects of facilitated case conferencing (FCC) with usual care (UC) on end-of-life care. Methods A two arm parallel cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted. The sample included people with advanced dementia from...
Data
CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) checklist. (DOCX)
Article
Many people living with dementia eventually lose the capacity to make their own decisions and will rely on another person - a surrogate decision maker - to make decisions on their behalf. It is important - especially with the increasing prevalence of dementia - that the role of surrogate decision maker is understood and supported. This qualitative...
Research
Full-text available
A practical guide for travellers. This document is the outcome of a knowledge translation project conducted by Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration and Brisbane Airport Corporation
Article
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Background: Palliative care for nursing home residents with advanced dementia is often sub-optimal due to poor communication and limited care planning. In a cluster randomized controlled trial, registered nurses (RNs) from 10 nursing homes were trained and funded to work as Palliative Care Planning Coordinators (PCPCs) to organize family case conf...
Article
The prevalence of dementia will continue to increase with the ageing of the population. Many people living with dementia will reach a stage where surrogate decision-makers-mostly family carers-will need to make a range of decisions on their behalf. The aim of this study was to learn from surrogate decision-makers how they can be most effectively su...
Article
Background: Pilot work by our group has demonstrated that aquatic exercise has valuable functional and psychosocial benefits for adults living in the residential aged care setting with dementia. The aim of the currents study was to advance this work by delivering the Watermemories Swimming Club aquatic exercise program to a more representative pop...
Article
Review question/objective: The objective of this review is to identify, appraise and synthesize existing evidence regarding the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions on the psychological health and emotional wellbeing of family carers of people with dementia who have moved into residential care.More specifically, the objectives are to determ...
Article
Objectives To objectively measure over a 24-hour period the daytime and nighttime levels of physical activity and sleep patterns of older people with dementia living in long-term care facilities. Study design Nested within a larger research program, this cross-sectional study involved 415 residents, aged ≥60 years, with a documented diagnosis of d...
Article
Full-text available
Background Delirium and dementia (cognitive impairment; CI), are common in older hospital patients, and both are associated with serious adverse outcomes. Despite delirium often being preventable, it is frequently not recognized in hospital settings, which may be because hospital nurses have not received adequate education or training in recognizin...
Article
Background: Family carers of people living and dying with dementia experience grief. The prevalence, predictors and associated factors of grief in this population have been identified, and psychosocial interventions to decrease grief symptoms have been implemented. However, the effect of psychosocial interventions on family carers' grief, loss or...
Article
Review question/objective: The objective of this systematic review is to identify, critically appraise and synthesize the best available literature regarding experiences and perceptions of family-staff relationships in the care of people with dementia living in residential aged care facilities.More specifically, the objectives are to identify fami...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia are often treated through the prescription of one or more psychotropic medications. However, limited efficacy and potential harmful side-effects has resulted in efforts to reduce the use of psychotropic medication in this population, particularly for those living in long-term care. Objectives: Th...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The ability to participate in valued activities, whether for work, leisure or family, is an important aspect of personal identity. In dementia, progressive memory loss means that abilities developed over a lifetime begin to be lost as well, contributing to the loss of self and identity. Some studies have reported that activities or int...
Poster
Full-text available
Abstract: Behaviours and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are a common problem in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Clinical guidelines dictate that first-line treatments for BPSD are psychosocial interventions, if these are unsuccessful psychotropic medications may then be trialled at low doses and their effects monitored. Data fr...