12/4 - Launceston, Thank you.

Our Launceston Better Practice conference was very well received and attended. Thank you for making our first Better Practice conference for 2013 such a success.

Our first conference of the year is always a good indication that our program continues to have a good blend of high calibre speakers. We do continue to look for your feedback on how we can improve the program throughout the year.

Gen Silent:

Better Practice delegates who wish to purchase Gen Silent will be happy to know they can purchase a Library Edition at a special promotional price. The production company never do this so we were happy when they created this offer for you. The website address is http://stumaddux.com/GEN_SILENT.html

Contact Tish Gettys (email address, tish@stumaddux.com) and mention the word Launceston. Tish will send you a special promo code to complete your online order.

9/4 - Life with Christine Bryden

At Better Practice last year, Christine Bryden spoke about her experiences living with dementia. She was diagnosed with this condition at age 46 and 20 years later she continues to advocate for improvements in the care provided to people living with dementia.

This program highlights the journey that Christine and her husband Paul have travelled together and the challenges that dementia has brought to both their lives.

We have partnered with Aged Care Channel (ACC) and tomorrow, ACC will broadcast Live-to-air a co-produced program about living with dementia named, “Christine Bryden, a conversation about Dementia”.

Click here to find out more about this special program event.

 

15/3 - Launceston is going really well

Thursday update:
Yesterday we had a fantastic day, starting with the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, in the morning talking about human rights, his experience coming out as a gay man, and the implications for supporting older people with diverse sexual identity in residential aged care.

Delegates were really positive, though a few expressed a concerning theme, being, that it is more likely to be younger staff in residential aged care who have negative views about gay residents. While this may reflect their prejudice towards older people as sexual beings, it is something that educators will need to consider when delivering education on this subject.

We finished the day with a well received presentation by renowned author Arnold Zable on 'story telling, its value in bringing people alive and how to ask the right questions'.

Friday update:
Today we heard from Professor Wendy Moyle and Professor Malcolm Masso about how important team work is in providing effective care.

Wendy talked about the evidence-based non-pharmacological strategies to support residents with challenging behaviour. She also talked about how music and touch can support residents with agitation and aggression. When it comes to touch, a ten-minute foot massage is effective, while hand massage can sometimes increase anxiety or distress. For those residents with anxiety or apathy, individualised meaningful recreation activities are effective.

Malcolm highlighted the importance of conversation - formal and informal - as a means of getting staff to work together to achieve better outcomes for residents. Residential aged care is a complex environment and introducing change can be tricky. Understanding human behaviour and what makes us receptive to change is critical.

Professor Malcolm Masso will be joining us for all of our Better Practice conferences in 2013 so register for one of our conferences and the Better Practice team and I look forward to seeing you this year.
 

 

11/3 - If it's Thursday, we're in Launceston

The planning we do for Better Practice conferences each year takes over 6 months and I'm so pleased we'll be launching this year's Better Practice conference in Launceston - on Thursday.

There are still places available and group discounts still apply.

The team and I look forward to meeting you all and getting your feedback on our new conference speakers.

See you on Thursday.

 

1/3 - Better Practice Launceston is almost here

You can start counting the sleeps before Better Practice Launceston.

Early bird discount bookings can still be made and don't forget about group booking discounts.

Don't miss out.

 

22/2 - Meet Professor Malcolm Masso

Professor Malcolm Masso has working in health for over 25 years and has recently spent time working as the National Director of Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC).

He has worked as a senior research fellow at the Centre for Health Service Development since 2004 and you will get to hear Professor Masso discuss the implementation of evidence-based practice in aged care at Better Practice Launceston. His research interests include evaluating change within health and aged care, the use of evidence to inform policy decisions and the implementation of evidence-based clinical practice.

Use the early bird and group discounts and book your place at Better Practice Launceston before time runs out.

20/2 - Gen Silent

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender older people who fought the first battles for equality now face so much fear of discrimination, bullying and abuse that many are hiding their lives to survive.

Human rights, and sexuality are two of this year’s key themes at Better Practice. We’ve made special arrangements for you to be able to watch Gen Silent* at Better Practice Launceston at lunchtime on Day 1.

Gen Silent looks at the experiences of elderly gay, and transgender people and their partners on entering residential aged care. It does this sensitively by looking at their personal stories and shared histories and how that informs their needs in aged care. This includes their needs that they share in common with everyone and their needs that are specific to the life that they have led.

Remember to take advantage of early bird and group discounts and book your place at Better Practice Launceston today.

 

13/2 - Meet Pino Migliorino

Pino Migliorino is a leading commentator in the area of aged care in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. He will discuss the explicit need of all aged care service providers to develop both an interest and competency in providing culturally relevant aged care.

He says “This cultural capacity is no longer just a nice thing to have, with the current ageing population demographics, it is an essential aspect of an aged care system that has the empathy, skills and resources to meet a growing diversity of needs”.

Professionally Mr Migliorino leads Cultural Perspectives and CIRCA Research and is a recognised expert in researching and communicating with diverse cultural and linguistic audiences. 

Mr Migliorino is also the Chairperson of the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia bringing over 30 years involvement with and expertise in immigration and multicultural affairs.

Remember to take advantage of early bird and group discounts and book your place at Better Practice Launceston today.

5/2 - Innovative digital storytelling

Arnold Zable: “If you look in the eye and tell you my story, you’ll see who I really am.”

Interactive Life Stories is a project based on human interaction – listening and connecting – at BCS Maranoa Centre, Alstonville NSW. Residential Manager Greg Price and Project Officer – Interactive Stories, Sharon Dean will be presenting at Better Practice Launceston on day two as part of the Staying connected concurrent sessions.

This project empowers residents to share their life stories with staff, families and each other – and this sharing extends to the wider community.

State Manager Queensland, Ken Jones attended the trophy award ceremony said, “The thing that stood out for me was the energy and engagement of residents and staff members in preparing the video/movie and the enthusiasm of staff and other members of the broader community to embrace and admire the knowledge and achievements of the residents’ life journey.”

I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing how residents and their families became actively engaged with activities that led to the digital production of a variety of media including movies, posters and books. I hope you are too.

Remember to book your place at Better Practice Launceston today.

 

31/1 - Who's speaking at Launceston this year?

Better Practice 2013 again delivers an array of high calibre speakers who will provide you with a good blend of topics to help you improve quality care for your residents. I'm really pleased with the program we'll be bringing you this year.

Join the Better Practice team and myself with over 100 of your peers and learn from high profile presenters such as The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG (see my earlier post), Pino Migliorino, Arnold Zable, Professor Wendy Moyle and Professor Malcolm Masso.

Human rights, CALD staff and residents, non-pharmacological approaches to supporting people with challenging behaviour and dementia, as well as sexuality are the key themes to be covered at Better Practice this year.

I'll be telling you more about these special speakers over the coming weeks and I look forward to your joining us again in Launceston.

Remember to book your place at Better Practice Launceston today.

 
30/1 - Meet The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG

Since 1975, when he was first appointed Chair of the Australian Law Reform Commission, we have learned to expect novel, sometimes provocative, occasionally contentious points of view from The Hon, Michael Kirby AC CMG. He has not slowed down since his retirement from his position as a judge of the High Court of Australia in February 2009.

Increasingly, he has become involved in issues involving aged care and vulnerable, dependent people in residential care. Recently, at the conference on adult guardianship in Melbourne, he gave a stimulating talk on two themes that he will develop in his address on 16 November 2012:
• The need for aged care home to adjust to the special needs of gay, lesbian and transgender residents; and
• The need to respect the privacy rights of those in care, including in respect of their sexual feelings.
As The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG acknowledged in Melbourne recently, these are subjects that make some people uncomfortable. And they are not always easy for residents, staff and families to resolve. But as the baby boomers grow older and bring their attitudes and values into aged care homes, they will present new demands and new challenges that will shake the industry up as never before. This session will therefore be a moment for expansion of thinking into new and challenging directions. And there are few better placed than the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG to stretch our minds.

This talk will be right up to date, given the announced intention of the Federal Government to amend legislation to remove the exemption from discrimination against GLBT people on the grounds of religious belief. It will consider the interface of anti-discrimination laws and religious conviction, in circumstances involving the expenditure of public funds. This is likely to be a major source of discussion affecting aged care standards in 2013.

Click here to book your place at Better Practice Launceston.

 

21/12 - Launceston brochure available online

Before Christmas comes, you can download the Launceston brochure here.

 

17/12 - Gearing up for Launceston

There's lots of excitement building for the launch of Better Practice 2013 and the program and brochure are being prepared for printing. You can book your place today if you can't wait for the brochure to come out.

The Better Practice team and I have really enjoyed bringing Better Practice 2012 to you and we wish you, your families and all those people you care for, all the best for the holidays.

This photo shows our Christmas Advent collection from Saxony, Germany.

30/11 - 2012 wrap up

While our 2012 program has wrapped up for the year, there was a lot you saw, heard and participated in as Better Practice 2012 delegates and I'm really thrilled you took part this year.

We had a bumper year with 1,380 delegates, providing over 197 speakers and the Sydney conference had the largest delegate numbers again this year.

You would have seen and heard from:

• Christine Bryden, author of Who will I be when I die and Dancing with Dementia inspired delegates with her own story of living with dementia and her observations about what dementia secure environments feel like to her and how they could be improved.
• Reverend Professor John Swinton from University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom presented at the conferences via Skype to discuss Rethinking what it is to age well.
• Diane Robinson, former President of the NSW Guardianship Tribunal, chaired some very lively hypothetical panel discussions about A resident with no family, what should a home be thinking about? We are still get feedback from delegates asking us about what Roy and Kate are up to now. Maybe they need their own blog!
• Well known celebrities including The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG, Colette Mann, Robina Beard OAM, Glen ‘Jako’ Jakovich and Anne ‘Willsy’ Wills. discussed ‘what they would like from an aged care home’ to end each conference.

Better Practice 2012 showcased resident’s artwork from the Northern Territory at the Adelaide conference and also art works and crafts from a range of New South Wales homes during the Sydney conference.

 

Residents from Bupa Merrimac taught us that old age and dementia is no barrier to a great onstage demonstration of Zumba during the Gold Coast conference.

A group of us took part in yoga on the beach at the Gold Coast conference at 7am, reinforcing the message that we need to look after own physical and mental health, to better equip us to care for others.

As the end of 2012 nears, I'll continue to give you details of the speakers and topics we have planned for 2013 so stay in touch.