Knowing how to care for and communicate with clients who have hearing loss is essential for their safety, ability to participate in daily and social activities and overall quality of life. This may include assisting with the insertion, removal, cleaning and troubleshooting of hearing aids. It is also crucial that you can correctly identify the signs of hearing loss and refer clients as soon as possible so that any issues are addressed early.

Changes to hearing, vision, taste, smell and touch impact how a person experiences the world. Sensory loss in older people is common. In Australia, 93% of people over 65 years of age are experiencing a long-term vision disorder, and 50% of people aged 60-70 have some kind of hearing loss - this increases to 80% after 80 years of age.

When we think of disability, the first symbol to come to mind for many of us will be a blue figure using a wheelchair - an image otherwise known as the International Symbol of Accessibility (ISA) (RI Global 2016)

You may be overjoyed to hear that interacting with dogs can have a variety of health benefits to people. However, before you invite man’s best friend into your care facility, there are several considerations that need to be made in order to ensure that clients, volunteers, visitors, staff and dogs can all have a safe and enjoyable experience.

Reproduced with permission from The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Ear syringing is a common procedure that’s estimated to be performed at least twice per week by most general practitioners. However, despite being considered effective and safe, ear syringing causes major complications in 1 out of 1,000 patients and is associated with a variety of risks.

When any person, particularly an older adult, accesses a healthcare service, there is a need for health professionals to not only treat their prioritising health concerns but also recognise and treat any other comorbidities they may have concurrently (or consequently) developed during their stay. One such comorbidity that may occur during a hospital stay is delirium. Any patient who has had surgery, is in pain, has moved beds multiple times or is dehydrated is at risk of delirium.

Showering and bathing is a personal experience, however, many in your care will need help with this daily-living task. The following article offers instructions on showering, bed-bathing and perineal hygiene, which should be used as a guide and in tandem with your organisation’s policies and procedures.

The term elder abuse describes any kind of failure to act or intentional act that causes harm to an older person and is performed by a person the older adult knows and trusts. In most cases, elder abuse is intentional. It can range in severity from verbal harassment to the infliction of serious physical injury, and also includes acts such as stealing from an older person or isolating them from their loved ones.

Toxoplasmosis testing is performed in order to detect and diagnose a current or past Toxoplasma gondii infection. T. gondii is a microscopic parasite that in