Meeting February 20th
Our speaker on Thursday, 20 February was Kellie Vivekanatham who is Acting Director of Aged, Mental and Subacute Services at Western health.
Kellie told us about a research program into a new Model of Care for dementia patients at Sunshine Hospital which they hope to role out to other areas of Aged Care. The model is at present being studied in a new six bed facility which has been designed to provide innovative care to patients with dementia in the early stage of the disease. The research is not about pharmacology, but about how various furnishings, routines, behaviours and ancillary services can lessen patients’ anxiety when they find themselves in strange surroundings, dealing with perceived strangers and having lost the memory of an ordered world.
Music therapists are employed and robotic pets are also used to provide comfort for patients .
Patients stay in the unit for about two months while they adjust to their new status. After that, the people can either go home to be cared for by other services or family, or they will move on to long stay accommodation appropriate to their level of self-sufficiency.
Unfortunately, as baby boomers move into the age of higher risk of dementia, the cohort needing care will far outstrip the capacity of the health system to provide residential care and hence the need to find ways to improve self-sufficiency.
Funds provided by our FRACS Trust Fund have been used in the development of this Project.