Aged care website proves a hit

A website designed to provide information to nursing students with an interest in working in aged care has proved a big hit with a wide range of browsers.

Launched by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in February 2007, the ‘Working with older people’ site, was developed in conjunction with the Department of Health and Ageing.

The site provides information about the responsibilities and rewards of working with older patients in hospitals or aged care facilities.
 
“We initially wanted to increase the content focussing on older people in undergraduate nursing programs and we were often told there were not many resources around,” said QUT’s head of nursing, Professor Helen Edwards.

“In a lot of cases, staff also felt they were not skilled enough in aged care to be able to educate students in a comprehensive way.

“By having access to this website and all of the information there, staff are more likely to use information about older patients in their course content.”

The site has also become a popular resource for members of the general public as well as academics and students.

An analysis of the site’s hits between March and October this year shows it has had a number of visits from the children and grandchildren of care recipients and even people living overseas.

“A lot of people are using the website to gain information because they are concerned about family members, or academics will look there for up-to-date information.”