A - D E - H I - L M - P Q - T U - Z

Quality improvement

Situations where care providers are motivated to go above and beyond the minimum standards to which they are held accountable. This entails a change process in LTC systems, continuously adapting to respond to the challenges faced by care providers and encouraging advances in care delivery and practice.
Q

Quality measurement

The operationalization of the standards of quality in LTC into measurable indicators that can be regularly collected and used to evaluate quality of care.

Quality of (long-term) care

The degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes. In the context of LTC, quality refers to the degree to which care services (for individuals and populations experiencing, or at risk of, declines in intrinsic capacity and functional ability) contribute to maximizing well-being and quality of life and increase the likelihood of personal and health outcomes that are consistent with the individual preferences, human rights and dignity of both care users and their caregivers.

Quality standards

Agreed-upon recommendations or statements for what constitutes good care, enshrined in guidelines, legislation or other regulatory frameworks.

Rate

An expression of the frequency with which an event occurs in a defined population per unit of time. In healthcare surveillance, it sometimes refers to proportions that are not true rates (e.g., attack rate or incidence density rate).
R

Resident

A person who permanently or temporarily resides in a residential aged care home.

Residential Aged Care Home

A facility that provides personal and/or nursing care including accommodation, meals, cleaning services, furniture and equipment. The residential aged care facility must meet certain building standards and appropriate staffing in provision of care and accommodation.

Respiratory precautions

A set of practices used for older people known or suspected to be infected with agents transmitted from person to person by airborne or droplet route.

Risk

The chance of something happening that will have a negative impact. Risk is measured by the consequences of an event and its likelihood.

Risk assessment

The assessment, analysis and management of risks. It involves recognising which events may lead to harm in the future, and minimising their likelihood and consequences

Surveillance

The ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, closely integrated with the timely dissemination of these data to those responsible for preventing and controlling disease and injury. (Thacker and Berkelman, 1988)
S