Australian journal of primary health
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This paper describes a medical model to provide in-house GP services to residents of aged-care facilities. Access to GP services for aged-care residents is decreasing, partially due to the changing demographic of the Australian GP workforce. The model we have developed is an in-house GP (AgedCare+GP) trialled in a publicly funded residential aged-care facility (RACF). ⋯ Evaluation of the service model used the number of resident transfers to the local emergency department as the primary outcome measure. There were 37 transfers of residents in the 3 months before the commencement of the AgedCare+GP and 11 transfers over a 3-month period at the end of the first year of operation; a reduction of almost 70%. This project demonstrates that AgedCare+GP is a successful model for GP service provision to RACF residents, and it also reduces the number of emergency department transfers.
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Nutrition is important in the management of chronic disease, and practice nurses in the Australian primary care setting are increasingly providing nutrition care to patients living with chronic disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate practice nurses' perceptions of their role and competency to provide nutrition care to patients living with chronic disease in Australia. Twenty practice nurses currently employed in general practice participated in an individual semi-structured telephone interview. ⋯ Participants were concerned about the availability and accessibility of nutrition education opportunities for practice nurses. The present study has demonstrated that practice nurses perceive themselves as having a significant role in the provision of nutrition care to patients with chronic disease in the Australian primary care setting. Further investigation of strategies to enhance the effectiveness of nutrition care provision by practice nurses is warranted.