Every year in Ireland thousands of older adults are admitted to residential care.
Saint Luke’s Charity, Cork which has been involved in this type of care since 1872 is hosting an important conference for healthcare professionals, particularly those involved in residential care, on Thursday, 6th April at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Little Island, Cork. The conference is being organised by the charity’s education and research centre – Northridge House.
The conference, entitled ‘Resident – Staff – Family Relationships’ will explore the emotive, challenging and complex relationships that arise when older adults are admitted to residential care. The conference will also focus on how best to achieve positive outcomes for families, staff and particular residents themselves.
The conference focus is on the nursing home and disability sectors with an impressive line-up of speakers representing both of these. The keynote speaker, Dr. Michael Bauer from Australia has conducted extensive research and published in this area. All at St Luke’s are honoured and delighted that he has agreed to deliver the keynote address. This 5th Annual Conference aims to acknowledge and address the family’s emotive journey, and will encourage the conference participants to nurture positive staff-family relationships by providing an insight into how this might occur, discussing and demonstrating strategies which work and pitfalls to avoid at different points in the resident’s journey.
Research has shown that building strong trusting relationships in an unfamiliar environment with family members who find themselves in a strange place with new roles to play and complex rules to interpret, is not easy. Family emotions are often prominent in staff-family relationships; and at times such relationships may become divisive rather than one of partnership in the approach to the care and welfare of the resident. Such an environment can produce tension and difficulties for residents, families and staff. This is evidenced by a large number of complaints raised by relatives and seen in the media, in both the nursing home and disability sectors of residential care.
The full conference brochure is available here: conference-brochure
Bookings & Enquiries to:
Claire Coakley (claire.coakley@stlukeshome.ie )
Bruce Pierce (bruce.pierce@stlukeshome.ie )
Phone number: 021 453 6551