Keeping mature-aged in the sector

Are you a carer or nurse in the aged care sector? If so, this may be your chance to have your say in a new research project which looks at the experiences of female carers and nurses aged 45 years and older.

The study is reportedly the first to focus on the unique employment experiences of women aged 45 years and older in the aged care sector and on the decisions that these women make about their continued involvement in paid work.

According to the survey’s lead investigator, Siobhan Austen, of Curtin University, the “motivation” for the project is about “getting a sense of the aged care workforce and the things that make it work”.

Ms Austen tells DPS News collecting data on items that are likely to be important to mature-age women’s experiences of aged care work have been “poorly measured” in other surveys.

Issues which will be looked at throughout the study will include such details as the nature of their relationships with others in the workplace as a mature age worker and the physical aspects of their working environment that may make continuing in paid work difficult.

“Our sense of it is that there is a group of workers with particular needs and circumstances, and we need to look at these needs as workers move into an older age group,” Ms Austen claims.

“Sometimes this is a bit of a myth, but physical capabilities can often change. We cannot generalise, but in earlier projects we’ve done, one issue looked at whether or not the workplace accommodates the different physical capabilities of different employees – particularly as they age,” she says.

The survey contains questions about work and life. There are no compulsory questions and the information collected in the survey will be treated as confidential, with Ms Austen claiming the responses will not be released to an employee’s aged care organisation.

Ms Austen says the survey is about “making sure people are able to continue to work”, and adds that after the project’s completion, they will be committed to producing a report with feedback to organisations in the care sector, as well as key unions and government agencies.

For more information on this survey, or directions on how to participate, contact Siobhan Austen on (08) 9266 7343 or siobhan.austen@cbs.curtin.edu.au.

Do you think the aged care sector needs to do more to look after its female workers aged over 45 years? Share your thoughts by commenting in the box below.