A 95-year-old woman who died a week after being tasered by police in her nursing home in Cooma is being remembered by her family as a "beautiful mum, nana and great-grandmother".
Clare Nowland, who had dementia, was hospitalised in a critical condition after falling and fracturing her skull during the confrontation with officers at Yallambee Lodge on May 17.
"With great sadness, the Nowland family share that our beloved Clare passed away this evening whilst surrounded by the love and support of her family," the family said in a statement on Wednesday.
"We wish to thank the staff at Cooma Hospital for their care and support for Clare and our family."
Police said they had been called to the facility and found Ms Nowland holding a serrated steak knife.
They said she used a walking frame to approach them before the taser was deployed.
On Wednesday, Senior Constable Kristian White, 33, was charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault.
'Wonderfully generous person'
Snowy Monaro Regional Council Mayor Narelle Davis said she had known Ms Nowland personally for 50 years and that she "left a great legacy".
"We'll always remember Mrs Nowland as that wonderfully generous person who always volunteered within the church and within some very important community areas such as [the St Vincent de Paul society]," she said.
Cr Davis said staff at the council-run Yallambee Lodge were being supported by trauma counsellors.
"We continue to provide high-level care to our residents in our facilities and support our staff the best way we can by putting extra resources in," she said.
Ms Nowland had been a resident at the centre for five years.
Facility compliant, council says
The council has confirmed it has made staff and documentation available to assist police and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission with their investigations.
Cr Davis said when the facility was accredited last year as part of a process related to the royal commission into aged care, it passed with "100 per cent compliance".
"So for us, we continue to just work within the process and the changing domain of aged care and adapt to the standards as they are put in place," she said.
Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said the incident would prompt formal discussions about how people with dementia were treated at nursing homes.
"We'll be very open about what we learn from this case and other cases that have been ventilated in the context," he said.
"I do hope that in time we are able to have a mature, informed conversation about the way in which people with dementia – as we've had about people experiencing mental illness – are responded to."
