Self-efficacy of direct care workers providing care to older people in residential aged care settings : a scoping review protocol

Background: Self-efficacy is developed through a person’s interaction with his/her physical and social environment. Self-efficacy in caring is an essential attribute of care workers to develop a positive attitude towards their clients, improve work performance, and enhance job satisfaction. Care workers’ self-efficacy may vary according to the context in which the care is being provided. Aged care is a multidimensional and challenging setting, and characteristics of aged care services are different from those of acute care services. The objective of this review is to give an overview of the self-efficacy of residential aged care workers in caring for older people and factors influencing their self-efficacy. Methods: The protocol for this review is based on the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewer’s Manual for Scoping Review. A systematic search of the literature on electronic databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, AgeLine, SCOPUS, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global will be carried out using predefined search terms to identify relevant studies. This review will include studies that examined the self-efficacy of direct care workers in caring for older people living in residential aged care facilities. All primary studies irrespective of the study design will be included. Studies conducted to develop measures or studies with informal care workers or students as study participants will not be considered. Two reviewers will independently conduct title and abstract screening, full-text screening, and data charting. A third reviewer will resolve discrepancies, while the final decision for conflicting studies will be made by consensus within the review team. Descriptive statistics will be utilized to analyze the quantitative findings, and the result will be presented in narrative form accompanied by tables and charts. Content analysis will be carried to analyze the qualitative findings and will be presented in narrative form supported by illustrative quotations. Discussion: This study will be an important source of knowledge to policymakers and aged care providers to understand the self-efficacy of aged care workers to support and enhance their self-efficacy and thereby improve their caring behaviors towards their clients. Scoping review registration: Joanna Briggs Institute Systematic Review Register with the title “A scoping review of factors influencing caring efficacy of direct care workers providing care to older people”. © 2021, The Author(s)

Rapid urbanisation and security: Holistic approach to enhancing security of urban spaces

Rapid urbanisation, particularly driven by rural-urban migration, can pose a wide range of security challenges in the global south and global north. The management of such a transition, in terms of the provision of social goods and quality of life raises significant challenges. Security of contemporary urban environments has become more complex due to a greater range of risk drivers, many of which can be exacerbated by the observed and portended impacts of climate change. This chapter outlines the phenomena underlying the transition to urbanisation - and the security challenges that have been exacerbated by these transitions. In doing so this work a holistic approach to security and highlights a gradual trend in the increased securitisation of issues (such as climate change) that in the past were not considered part of typical ‘security’ dialogues. It also introduces a decision support framework that can aid a broad range of stakeholders in making decisions about the enhancement of security of urban spaces in a context of multiple threats exacerbated by these new security challenges

Observational pain assessment scales for people with dementia: a review

Dementia may alter the experience of pain and the ability to communicate it; this will, in turn, result in poor pain detection and inadequate treatment. The aim of this literature review is to identify the observational pain scales that have clinical utility and feasibility for use with people living with dementia in the community by district nurses in their daily practice. It was found that a consensus could not be reached on which tool to use in clinical practice. A further evaluation of the Non-communicative Patients Pain Assessment Instrument has improved its feasibility for use in the community environment, as it can be administered by family carers. This literature review concludes that observational pain scales need to be validated for use in the community and that there is a need to consider the involvement of the informal carer in the assessment of pain

Psychometric properties of the caring efficacy scale among personal care attendants working in residential aged care settings

Objective: This study assessed the psychometric properties of the Caring Efficacy Scale (CES) among personal care attendants providing care to older residents in residential aged care settings. Methods: This cross-sectional study was completed in Australia in 2020–2021. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the 30-item original CES (Model 1) and 28-item CES validated in registered nurses (Model 2) was conducted to assess the goodness of fit of these models in our study population. Due to unsatisfactory fit indices for both models, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to examine the dimensionality and underlying structure of the original CES among personal care attendants. Internal consistency of the final scale and subscales identified was examined using item-total correlations and Cronbach's alpha coefficients. Results: Two hundred and eighty personal care attendants participated in the study. The model fit indices such as Comparative Fit Index and Tucker Lewis Index of both models were less than 0.90, while the Standardised Root Mean Square Residual and Root Mean Square of Approximation values were greater than or equal to 0.08 and 0.06, respectively. The EFA identified a two-factor structure, and 22 items of the 30 in the original scale were retained. Item-total correlations amongst items retained in the scale and subscales were greater than 0.3. Cronbach's alpha for the abbreviated scale was 0.85, with 0.83 and 0.79, respectively, for the two subscales. Conclusions: The modified CES can be used as a robust tool to assess the self-efficacy of personal care attendants in providing care to older residents in residential aged care settings. © 2023 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AJA Inc’

Caring self-efficacy of direct care workers in residential aged care settings : a mixed methods scoping review

The caring self-efficacy of direct care workers in residential aged care has been explored in the literature mostly as a predictor rather than the focus of interest. This scoping review aimed to provide an overview of the existing literature on aged care workers’ caring self-efficacy and factors that influence it. A systematic search was performed in six electronic databases. All primary studies were included. A total of 41 studies met the inclusion criteria. Caring self-efficacy was most often described by aged care workers as their capacity to deal with difficult situations. The self-efficacy scores of direct care workers were high across studies. Self-efficacy was positively influenced by access to resources, relationships with residents and their families, the support of supervisors and co-workers, job satisfaction, and training opportunities, and negatively affected by work pressure and burnout. Findings indicate possible avenues for intervention to improve direct care workers’ self-efficacy in aged care. © 2021 Elsevier Inc

Caring Self-Efficacy of Personal Care Attendants From English-Speaking and Non-English-Speaking Countries Working in Australian Residential Aged Care Settings

Objectives: This study compared the caring self-efficacy between personal care attendants (PCAs) from English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries, controlling for potential sociodemographic and work-related covariates. PCAs’ perceptions of their caring self-efficacy were further explored. Methods: An independent samples t-test was used to determine the mean difference in the caring self-efficacy score between the two groups. A multivariate analysis was conducted to adjust for covariates. Thematic analysis was conducted on open-ended responses. Results: The results showed that caring self-efficacy was significantly influenced by whether participants primarily spoke English at home rather than where they were born. Younger age and everyday discrimination experiences were negatively associated with caring self-efficacy. Both groups perceived that inadequate resources and experiencing bullying and discrimination reduced their caring self-efficacy. Discussion: Access to organisational resources and training opportunities and addressing workplace bullying and discrimination against PCAs, particularly younger PCAs and those from non-English-speaking backgrounds, could improve their caring self-efficacy.</p

LE NOUVEAU SYSTÈME MONDIAL DE PRÉVISIONS OCÉANIQUES DU MET OFFICE À UNE RÉSOLUTION DE 1/12°.

International audienceThe Met Offi ce has recently upgraded its operational Forecasting Ocean Assimilation Model (FOAM) from an eddy permitting 1/4° tripolar grid (ORCA025) to the eddy resolving 1/12° ORCA12 confi guration. FOAM-ORCA12 uses NEMOv3.6 (GO6 confi guration) coupled to CICE (GSI8.1 confi guration) for the ocean and sea-ice components, respectively. It assimilates observations of sea surface temperature (SST), temperature and salinity profi les, altimeter sea level anomaly and sea ice concentration, via NEMOVAR which is a multivariate incremental 3DVar scheme that runs over a 1-day time window. Qualitatively FOAM-ORCA12 better represents the details of mesoscale features in SST and surface currents. Traditional statistical verifi cation methods suggest that the new system performs similarly or slightly worse than the equivalent 1/4° system. However, it is known that comparisons of models running at different resolutions suffer from a double penalty effect, whereby higher-resolution models are penalised more than lower-resolution models for features that are offset in time and space. Results are shown from neighbourhood verifi cation methods which use common spatial scales for a fairer comparison between confi gurations of different resolutions, applied to SST. We show that, as neighbourhood sizes increase, ORCA12 consistently has lower Continuous Ranked Probability Scores than ORCA025

Advocating the rights of people with dementia to contribute to research: Considerations for researchers and ethics committees

Objective: Research involving people with dementia is vital to appropriately inform policy and practice decisions affecting this population. As dementia-care researchers, we frequently advocate to Human Research Ethics Committees for the right of people with dementia to choose whether to participate in research. This brief report provides some considerations for researchers and ethics committees. Method: Descriptive summary of principles that argue for inclusion of people with dementia in research studies. Results: Specifically excluding people living with dementia from research because of perceived cognitive impairment is inappropriate in light of human rights principles and the right to contribute to evidence-based care. Conclusions: There is a difference between capacity to provide informed consent and ability to provide perspectives that are valid for each individual. Providing the opportunity for a person with dementia to participate in research and offering support to do this is a matter of human rights.</p