Are we meeting the dementia challenge?
Aged care workers caring for people living with dementia were put in the spotlight when major health insurance provider Bupa hosted its first New South Wales forum in Sydney last Friday (1 June 2012). International dementia expert Dr Graham Stokes spoke to DPS News as the forum was being held.
Aged care workers caring for people living with dementia were put in the spotlight when major health insurance provider Bupa hosted its first New South Wales forum in Sydney last Friday (1 June 2012).
International dementia expert Dr Graham Stokes spoke to DPS News as the forum was being held and had some important messages for the sector’s workers.
“You can’t teach attitude. You need to have the right attitude and be educated about caring for a person living with dementia in residential aged care,” he said.
Dr Stokes, who is based in the UK, posed the question; ‘Are we meeting the dementia challenge?’ to more than 100 nurses from Sydney and throughout regional NSW at the Novotel in Brighton-le-Sands.
The forum was part of Bupa’s Nurse Development Program (NDP), which provides nurses with career development opportunities and recognises aged care nursing as a “specialism”.
Bupa’s human resources consultant, Emillie McKenna, said the NDP was crucial to attracting and retaining nurses in aged care.
“Aged care is a specialist area of nursing, just like paediatrics,” Ms McKenna said. “For us, the objective is simple – we want our nurses to stay in the aged care industry and to love what they do,” she added.
According to Dr Stokes, about 70% of residents in Australian aged care facilities have dementia. “We need a holistic way of working [with these residents],” he added.
“Staff need to appreciate the individuality of a person and understand that this person is longing to be pain-free,” he added.
According to Dr Stokes, quality care needed to be developed to “create better lives” for those living with dementia.
“It can be an isolated and very vulnerable life. Nurses need to provide that safety and companionship.
“Out of all of the high income countries, Australia has one of the biggest increases in dementia. You need to be prepared for what is on the horizon when it comes to those living with dementia and in aged care facilities,” he warned.
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