Dear ACT AAG Members and Friends,
We are pleased to share the following updates:
- Event report:
- Navigating a career in
ageing – roundtable
- On March 16th we held an event with
four accomplished panel speakers about their career journey and tips
for a fulfilling career in various ageing-related fields.
- Prof Diane Gibson guided us through an engaging and
interactive conversation with Melinda Leake (AIHW), Dr Michael Chapman
(Canberra Hospital), Dr Chris Hatherly (Academy of Social Sciences) and
Dr Diane Hosking (National Seniors).
- Panel members said they enjoy working in ageing
because they are able to meet, interact, and hear the stories of older
people, use data to influence change in policy and practice, and that it
takes "patience, passion, and persistence" to navigate a
career in ageing.
- Upcoming events:
- Stay
tuned for upcoming AAG ACT events and travelling fellow announcements.
- Other upcoming events:
- Aged Care Research
& Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA) inaugural conference:"
Facing the Future: Aged Care 2030 and Beyond", is being held in
Adelaide.
o The event will be held
between the 15th and 16th of May.
o More information can be
found here.
- Belconnen Arts Centre
are hosting "100 Canberra", – an intergenerational initiative
presented by Embraced
o The exhibit will be open from May 19th to July 2nd, with
a special opening at 2pm on May 20th.
o More information can be found here.
- The Australian Dementia
Forum is returning to face-to-face and is being held on the Gold Coast
this year "Discovery, Diagnostics and Management":
o The conference will be held between the 29th and 31st of May.
o More information can be found here.
- The 9th
Rural & Remote Health Scientific Symposium is hosting
"Connecting Research, Practice & Communities" here in
Canberra:
o The conference will be held between the 20th
and 21st of June.
o More information can be found here.
- The ARC Centre of
Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) is holding its
international conference: "Population Ageing: Causes, Consequences
and Responses":
o The event will be held between the 3rd and 5th
of July. More information can be found here.
- The 56th AAG
Conference will be held on the Gold Coast between the 14th and
17th of November:
o This year's theme is "Reimagining ageing: Diving into an
ocean of possibilities".
o Abstract
submissions are open now and close on April 28th.
o Conference bursaries will be available again this year –
details will be announced soon.
- Grant funding success in the ACT:
- Congratulations to the following recipients of
category one grants this year (including some of our very own committee
members):
o Tergel Namsrai (ANU): DARF Graeme Samuel Dementia
Research Award for "Investigating the interaction of sleep quality and
physical/cognitive training as protective factors for cognitive decline in a
randomised controlled trial in the advanced design stages" ($67,500)
o Katrina Anderson, Annaliese Blair & team (ANU): MRFF
2022 Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care for "To know me is to understand me:
Digital life story packages in dementia care transitions" ($1,349,944)
o Stephen Isbel, Diane Gibson, Nathan D'Cunha &
team (UC): MRFF 2022 Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care for "Enhancing allied
health services for people with dementia in residential aged care: an
integrated transdisciplinary model" ($647,854)
o Sam Kosari & team (UC): MRFF Quality, Safety and
Effectiveness of Medicine Use and Medicine Intervention by Pharmacists for
"Implementation and scale-up of on-site pharmacist in aged care
model" ($1,498,636)
- Consultations open:
o
The Commission is currently undertaking public consultation until May 8th.
o As part of the
Australian Government's response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality
and Safety, views of all people who volunteer in the aged care sector and all
those who work with volunteers in their role as volunteer managers or as an
aged care providers are being sought until May 26th.
- AAG 2022 Conference Reports from ACT Bursary Award
Winners:
- Miranda Bratten (UC): I presented on one of my PhD
studies – a mixed methods study evaluating interprofessional
collaboration between on-site pharmacists and prescribers (General
Practitioners and Nurse Practitioners), managers and nursing staff within
Australian residential aged care facilities. I really enjoyed and valued
the mix of attendees and presenters at this welcoming and friendly
conference. The plenary sessions, oral presentations and incidental
conversations that I had with fellow students, researchers and
policymakers across Australia and internationally have given me a lot of
food for thought. In addition, having the opportunity to share some of my
research findings face-to-face with others interested in aged care was a
highlight for me.
- Tricia O'Connor (UC): I had a great time, exhausting
but really great. Felt a bit like speed dating trying to keep track, and
make it to the next room and the next room, to hear all the speakers I
had marked in my program. Highlight has to be the networking, so nice to
meet people face-to-face. I also really enjoyed the conference dinner,
great table companions and a great band. I presented recent findings from
our research answering the frequently asked question by families,
"How long do you think ...", when they are told their
loved one is imminently dying. We looked for differences in demographics
and between those who died in RACF versus those who died at home or in a
hospice setting.
- Elizabeth Low (UC): Thank you to the AAG ACT Branch
for the bursary and a huge thank you to the conference organisers for an
amazing (and exhausting!!!) conference. I presented on the last day of
the conference on my preliminary findings from my research on how well
older independent and community-living older persons are eating. My
preliminary findings indicate that they are not subsisting on tea and
toast, but the sample is biased towards people who are income and housing
secure, generally tertiary educated and because the sample was
convenience and self-selected could be expected to have had an interest
in nutrition and/or likely to have high food literacy. The conference was
very well organised and presented many opportunities for networking and
learning about other research in the ageing space including fabulous
plenary sessions and guest speakers and symposiums. Food (a very
important part of any conference) was incredible and featured lots of
local and native ingredients - the wattle seed scones with Davidson plum
jam being a particular favourite. And of course, such wonderful food made
networking much easier. Lots of things to think about over the coming
months - and people to follow up.
- Send us your news, journal articles, successful grants
or suggestions by replying to this email!
Warm Regards,
ACT AAG Committee