September 2nd 2010

With our ageing population and mounting demands on nurses, are current models of dementia care delivering the best quality of life possible to the most vulnerable in our communities?

Though evidence shows a 'person-centred' approach to dementia care achieves greater wellbeing, few facilities in Australia successfully deliver this simple and cost-saving solution. Can Australia afford to maintain outdated modes of dehumanising care that lead to nurse burnout, over-medication and costly over-management of people in emotional distress?

Offering insights for health professionals and broader community, this lecture highlights challenges facing Australia in caring for people with dementia. It suggests pathways for better preparing health professionals to deliver enhanced outcomes for people in their care as well as their own greater satisfaction.

Professor Lynn Chenoweth

For more than 42 years Lynn Chenoweth has worked as a registered nurse, nurse unit manager, director of nursing, nurse educator and researcher. Now Professor of Aged & Extended Care Nursing in the UTS Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, she is also Director of the Health & Ageing Research Unit for South Eastern Sydney & Illawarra Area Health Service and leads the nursing node for the NSW Dementia Collaborative Research Centre.

Professor Jane Stein-Parbury

Widely recognised for her expertise in interpersonal communication, Jane Stein-Parbury is particularly well known for her best-selling textbook, Patient & Person: Interpersonal Skill in Nursing. She has more than 35 years experience in mental health as a registered nurse, in acute care, in consultation liaison services and academia. Jane is also Professor of Mental Health Nursing in the UTS Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health and Director of the Area Professorial Mental Health Nursing Unit for South Eastern Sydney & Illawarra Area Health Service.

Introduced by

Professor Henry Brodaty, Director of the Lead Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, School of Psychiatry, UNSW and Head of Aged Care Psychiatry, Prince of Wales Hospital.

Resources

• flyer (PDF 201k)
• presentation slides (PDF 872k)
• audio recording (MP3 27.7 MB)
• video (Opens video presentation) A transcript is available.

UTSPEAKS: is a free public lecture series presented by UTS experts discussing a range of important issues confronting contemporary Australia