About

Current fields of interest

Dr McDonald’s ongoing research is contributing to the prevention of elder abuse, exploitation and neglect and participates in high-level policy forums on these matters. She has peer-reviewed publications related to the quality of life assessment scale that she has developed and tested for use in the residential aged care industry and in-home care contexts.

The LTC-QoL was released freely to organisations looking for a way to monitor staff interventions and their impacts on life quality of older adults. A benchmarking system is also in development and will be available later this year.

Professional Philosophy and Objectives

My current professional focus is on ensuring that, in policy and regulation development and review, prominence is given to issues affecting the practical environments in which people live and work, and concerning those who provide care, support, treatment and protection to vulnerable people. It is important also that families and communities in all contexts have access to informed leadership that will enable them to advance their situations and enable them to pursue careers in practical as well as theoretical fields of endeavour.

Qualifications