Dementia workshop is a first for central Qld
A large Queensland provider has brought together aged care staff, allied health professionals and GPs for a groundbreaking dementia workshop.
Queensland provider, Blue Care recently hosted a workshop in Hervey Bay to help health care workers improve their understanding of dementia and evidence-based dementia care.
Held in the lead up to Dementia Awareness Week (19-26 September) and World Alzheimer’s Day (21 September), the two-day training event was the first of its kind in central Queensland.
Over 100 health care professionals from a range of backgrounds and organisations took part in the workshop.
Among the participants were personal carers, assistants in nursing, registered nurses, allied health professionals and general practitioners.
Blue Care Trainer and Workshop Organiser Julie von Schill said participants travelled from as far north as Rockhampton, and as far west as Roma, to attend.
“We had the biggest attendance ever for a training workshop in the region,” she said. “We opened up the respite accommodation at a couple of Blue Care facilities, like Rainbow Cottage and Joyce Walker, so our staff from remote areas could attend.
The workshop had a particular focus on the most common forms of dementia and included a discussion of the criteria used to diagnose dementia as well as a review of the clinical guidelines for dementia care.
Participants considered the effects of a diagnosis on families and looked at the management strategies for people with dementia living in residential care.
The training was conducted by the Deputy Director of the Dementia Training and Study Centre of Eastern Australia, Professor Elizabeth Beattie and Registered Nurse Jenneke Footitit.
It was funded through the Commonwealth’s National respite for Carers Program.
