Improving Quality of Life for Older People in Long-Stay Care ...

the day by their bed. In addition, toilets were located at a distance from some of thebays. Despite these physical constraints imposed by the buildings, great effort hadbeen made to try and make the facilities more homely with plants and bright colourschemes. Each resident had their own locker/wardrobe, bed-table and chair. One ofthese facilities also had palliative care beds.7.5.2 StaffingRegistered nurses worked with care attendants to provide care. Within this sectoras a whole, there were more registered nurses than care attendants. Some careattendants had a mixed care giving and domestic role.7.5.3 Life in the FacilityThe atmosphere in these study sites was relaxed, warm and friendly. The moreable residents were often able to make some choices about their day. However,those requiring significant levels of physical help were less likely to have choice.Dependent residents’ days were more likely to be shaped by routine and manywere put back to bed by the late afternoon. Many residents sat in comfortablechairs by their bed and listened to the radio or watched television. Several residentsspent some periods dozing in their chairs during the day. In one facility there werestudents on work experience who were involved in running activities for residents;bingo, arts and crafts, and cards games were offered.1477.5.4 Resident Profile/DependencyMost residents were highly dependent and needed significant levels of helpwith physical care. While full data on resident dependency was not available,in one study site, 24 out of 29 long-stay residents were deemed to be high ormaximum dependency.7.6 Resident DemographicsA total of 101 residents were interviewed. Residents’ age, gender, duration ofstay, type of facility and dependency rating was gathered. More women (n = 65)than men (n = 31) were included in the sample. Below is a series of tables whichoutline resident demographics.