We need to get this right

It would be hard to talk about supporting a holistic approach to ageing without talking about dementia. Whilst it isn’t just a normal part of ageing, the odds are you will know someone living with dementia, be supporting someone living with dementia or you yourself will develop dementia. So, we want to get this right – right now. And that starts with us.

Dementia Support Australia is pleased to lead the breakfast masterclass on Thursday 29 May at the Positive Ageing Summit, which will focus on three core areas that you as delegates have indicated you want to hear more about.

I will be in conversation with Dr Duncan McKellar, who is the general manager of HammondCare’s Hammond Centre and author of An Everyone Story, and Wendy Hall, director of Dementia Doulas International and author of three amazing books.

But you won’t just hear the voices of these experts, you’ll have the opportunity to hear the living experience of dementia from William (Bill) Yeates on his journey to reablement. And perhaps it is a journey we are also on to change care, to challenge thinking and to empower our workforce to do better.

Everything you and I do has an element of risk. We make choices based on what creates the strongest sense of wellbeing for us – sometimes negotiating the consequences of those choices but still making them.

With the new Aged Care Act looming we need to carefully think about how – in a regulated environment that actively seeks to eliminate risk – we embrace decision-making made by those living with dementia.

If instead of saying “no we can’t” we ask “how can we?” we can move to truly shared decision-making models.

The inference that a person with dementia can’t make a choice because they have no understanding of consequence is outdated. Sure, sometimes we need to navigate decisions carefully, but it is time to look at what true shared decision-making is.

We’ll navigate some lived experiences through the work and personal experience of our panel.

_{Above (clockwise from left): Dr Duncan McKellar, Bill Yeates and Wendy Hall}

And if we’re talking about dementia, we need to address the behaviour and complex behaviour support. But maybe as we start to think about risk, we start to think about behaviours a little differently. Maybe through a lens of wellbeing not illbeing and through a model of active participation not deficit.

We’ve spent a lot of time on – and some of our teams have even contributed to books and resources that focus on – BPSD, which stands for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

What if we truly saw behaviour as the response to the erosion of wellbeing for the person living with dementia? And as Dr Allen Power has told us numerous times, there is no medication that strengthens wellbeing. Maybe it only diminishes it. But it isn’t easy to find our way through the maze of changes that do occur when you are living with and supporting people with dementia. So, we will ask some tough questions and give you an opportunity to ask our panel what we can do.

And finally, we talk about issues of engagement and re-engagement for people living with dementia.

Imagine a world where unintentionally you were removed from the things that give you purpose. Things that are part of your unique story and identity and that spark joy for you. And instead, you were presented with the type of engagement that was never part of your experience.

I imagine there’d be some consequential behaviour – and so it begins.

Engagement is more than just folding the laundry or sweeping the path – although they can be great if that is what you enjoy. Engagement is the passive and active connections that truly bring joy. How do we know what this is and then how do we build wellbeing plans?

So, whilst you are joining the amazing program at Positive Ageing Summit take the time to register for our breakfast masterclass. We will not only talk through the above issues but take the time to hear from you, the voices from the floor and across the industry and start our day, not only nourished from our meal but from the opportunity to share and learn together. Let’s leave energised for day 2 and committed to supporting wellbeing for all.

Marie Alford is general manager of growth and innovation national programs at  HammondCare

Positive Ageing Summit is an initiative of Australian Ageing Agenda and Community Care Review – read our coverage of the event here and find out more on the Positive Ageing Summit 2025 website