Unprecedented increases in the number of older people as a proportion of the total Australian population and shifts in the focus and delivery of health and aged care services have led to new challenges in the interactions between acute care and aged care.

In March 2001, the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC) established a national group, the Health Care of Older Australians Standing Committee (HCOASC) previously called the Care of Older Australians Working Group (COAWG) to explore care options for older Australians at the interface of hospital care, community care and residential aged care.

The group's action is targeted at older people:

• Entering the acute care system
• At risk of hospitalisation
• Entering the aged care system
• At risk of premature entry to aged care

HCOASC, lead by Victoria and the Australian Government, undertook a major research program. The final reports from this work program are available at the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing Website and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Website. (Interface Between Hospital and Residential Aged Care)

Drawing on the major findings from the work program, HCOASC has developed a National Action Plan for improving the care of older people across the acute-aged care continuum. The National Action Plan focuses on acute, sub-acute and aged care, and introduces transition care services to cater for patients' shift from the hospital system into longer term arrangements, including where necessary ongoing aged care.

It has also developed or commissioned the development of the following resources to support health and aged care practitioners:

Age Friendly Policies and Practices - Managing older people in the health service environment

Developed by the HCOASC and endorsed by Health Ministers in July 2004, the Age- friendly principles and practices provides a simple and clear framework for managing the older person in a health service environment.

Best Practice Approaches to Minimise Functional Decline in the Older Person across the Acute, Sub-acute and Residential Aged Care Settings

Developed by the Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Evaluation Unit, Melbourne Health, this manual identifies all relevant guidelines, systematic reviews and randomised control trials, current at the time of publication, that health professionals and carers should consider when managing the older person.

For ease of downloading, a Quick Guide is also provided separately.

A Guide for Assessing Older People in Hospitals

Developed by the Centre for Applied Gerontology, Bundoora Extended Care Centre, Northern Health, this manual is a practical resource to assist medical, nursing and allied health professionals working within a hospital setting who have older people in their care. The information in this guide is based on an extensive review of the literature and interdisciplinary expert opinion.

For ease of downloading, a Quick Guide and an extensive bibliography are also provided separately.

Printed copies are also available from State Departments of Health and the Australian Government.

Stroke Care Pathway: a resource for health professionals

Developed by the National Stroke Foundation, the stroke care pathway is a resource that provides the user with a summary of key aspects of care that should be considered for people with stroke at any stage of their care.

Printed copies are also available from State Departments of Health and the Australian Government.

Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Delirium in Older People

Developed by the Clinical Epidemiology and Health Service Evaluation Unit, Melbourne Health. This manual is a practical resource containing a series of recommendations to guide clinical assessment and management of delirium in older Australians in hospital and across health care settings.

The resource comes in a package with the Management of delirium in Older People Quick Reference Guide and a consumer brochure on Delirium.

The ‘how to’ guide Turning knowledge into practice in the care of older people

Developed by Project Health, the 'how to' guide is a practical resource which facilitates implementation of evidence and quality improvement into practice. Whilst it targets the five evidence based resources developed by the HCOASC, it has broad applications to implementation and change process across a wide range of settings.

This guide is available in the downloads section to the right.