Respected academic partners with respected provider

Dr Jennifer Abbey has been appointed by a large South Australian provider to review and extend its services for people with dementia.

Dr Jennifer Abbey will be working with ACH Group to implement innovative approaches to dementia care.

South Australian provider, ACH Group has appointed Dr Jennifer Abbey as a consultant in aged care nursing.

Dr Abbey is one of Australia’s leading nurse researchers in the field of dementia and is a member of the Commonwealth Minister’s National Advisory Body on Dementia.

The main focus of Dr Abbey’s work with the organisation will be the implementation of innovative projects across the organisation, using an evidence-based framework.

“For me, there is a great deal of personal satisfaction in bridging the gap between research and practice,” said Dr Abbey.

“Researchers often tend to be in their ivory towers but I want to make sure that the latest evidence can be made accessible to benefit people with dementia.”

Dr Abbey has had an interest in the needs of people with dementia for over twenty years.

She will develop new initiatives to improve staff training, drawing on her contacts and colleagues at the forefront of research and practice in Australia and overseas.

Dr Abbey will also conduct reviews of the organisation’s current approaches to dementia care.

“As people get frailer and as dementia becomes so much more pervasive, we want to move to be at the forefront of dementia care,” she said.

Dr Abbey has a long association with ACH Group, conducting research for her PhD within the organisation.

“It has a total commitment to a values-based approach. Every staff member is very, very aware that there is a values-based approach within the organisation,” she said.

“As with many organisations, I think there are some gaps at the very beginning and some gaps at the very end but it is very open to new ideas.”

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