Aged care managers' perceptions of staff preparedness for caring for older survivors of genocide and mass trauma in Australia: How prepared are aged care workers?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate aged care managers' perceptions of staff preparedness for working with older people who experienced genocide or mass trauma earlier in their lives (referred to in this paper as 'older survivors').
METHODS: A survey of 60 aged care service managers was conducted (50% response rate). Trauma knowledge and skills scales with Cronbach's alpha scores of 0.74 and 0.90 respectively, were used. Scores across groups were compared using Student's t-tests.
RESULTS: Three-quarters of the respondents reported that their agency had provided aged care services for older survivors. The majority of these managers perceived their staff to be moderately informed about trauma-related issues and half rated staff trauma-related skills positively. These ratings were positively associated with trauma-related staff training, service type and service location.
CONCLUSION: Results suggest that, overall, managers perceive a need to improve aged care staff's preparedness for providing care for older survivors.