11 July, 2024 4 min read
Away from the #IDC2024 main stage, in rooms filled with people who share your interests, you’ll find a concurrent session targeted right where you’re at.
Cutting-edge topics among the sessions range from trauma-informed dementia care for survivors of the Stolen Generation to the use of technology such as robots and virtual reality in aged care.
The image above shows just a sample of our speakers, who'll be giving 52 presentations arranged according to 12 themes:
Day 1
A: Responding to changing behaviours
B: New directions in residential care
C: Design and the environment
D: Palliative and end-of-life care
E: Equity, access and diversity
F: Technology for future care
G: Walking beside them - a carer's story
Day 2
A: This is happening to me - lived experiences
B: Innovation in home and community
C: Rarer dementias in the spotlight
D: Younger onset dementia
E: Through a First Nations lens
F: The transforming workforce
G: Food culture in four bites
Some of the most exciting research and practice will be explored within each theme, with a diverse range of disciplines represented by speakers from as far afield as Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, the US and Taiwan.
One of the most highly anticipated presentations will be brought to us in the ‘Through a First Nations lens’ session.
Dr Tiffany McComsey and Harpreet Kalsi-Smith are from the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation on the mid-north coast of NSW, and will discuss the urgent need for culturally safe, trauma-informed dementia care and support for the ageing members of the Stolen Generation.
An Aboriginal boys institution that took part in shameful abuses last century, Kinchela now offers opportunity for healing and brotherhood among former residents as they age.
“For the last 10 years, we’ve been having to find solutions to help when it comes to dementia,” said Tiffany.
There are unique experiences that Stolen Generation survivors and the Uncles of Kinchela Boys Home have with dementia - what they’re reliving now, because of those memories of what happened to them as little boys...
Dr Tiffany McComsey
“There are unique experiences that Stolen Generation survivors and the Uncles of Kinchela Boys Home have with dementia - what they’re reliving now, because of those memories of what happened to them as little boys, sometimes leading to disclosures that the family have never heard, and then supporting their family through those experiences.
“We’re concerned that a lot of aged care providers and other dementia care spaces don’t understand this particular trauma and what it means for their experiences of dementia.”
She said the wider health and aged care sector needs to hear from these survivors, as well as listen to their solutions. (Scroll down to watch a video of Tiffany explaining the motivation behind the Kinchela presentation.)
New uses of technology in dementia care will also be a hot topic at IDC2024, with several presentations touching on it in both the ‘Technology for future care’ and ‘New directions in residential care’ streams.
The use of robots is examined from both a social and pet-oriented perspective, implemented in Singapore and Queensland respectively.
Prudence Chan, from Singapore’s Pacific Rehab Group, will talk about the rollout into nursing homes of socially assistive robots, which are usually outfitted with cameras, sensors and microphones.
Each robot is equipped with the capacity to offer companionship, provide exercise routines or enable cognitive training for users.
An international study into pet robots will be presented by Dr Wei Qi Koh, from the University of Queensland, which identified strategies critical for supporting aged care providers to implement them in dementia care.
A feasibility study into the use of virtual reality therapy in acute hospital settings for people living with dementia will be the subject of St George Hospital’s Olivia Paulik, while Dr Paul Jansons from Deakin University will discuss digital voice assistants.
As migrant populations age, Pelden Chejor from Edith Cowan University, will present the results of a timely study on the concerns of older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The findings showed their need for cultural connection increases as dementia progresses.
And Hayley Antipas, from the University of Melbourne, will discuss stressors and solutions in relation to workplace retention.
Other compelling presentations will look at how art affects behaviours in people living with dementia, alternatives to the “deplorable, degrading, inhumane process" of chemical restraint, and the development of the HUG therapeutic comforter in the UK.
If you haven’t booked your seat at IDC2024 yet, make sure you check out the rest of the concurrent topics – you’re bound to be inspired!
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Watch
Dr Tiffany McComsey, CEO of Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation, explains their urgent message for IDC2024.