Veering from the twee and sentimental to the sensationalised and despairing, representations of dementia in mainstream media are – at their worst – dehumanising for people living with dementia and increase fear, misunderstanding or discrimination in the wider community. Equally, sensitive and accurate portrayals shape a more realistic view among the public, showing that people can live full, satisfying lives with dementia, and can help remove the stigma of the condition. 

Our panel will feature the voices of people impacted by dementia, who will share their thoughts on mainstream representation and what needs to change. Our hope is that their voices will be at the centre of future discourse so as to inform public debate, shape policy and help design the services they need, with the media acting to amplify their stories and, ultimately, hold organisations, care providers, governments and society to account. 

Scottish dementia researcher and psychiatrist Dr Tom Russ will set the tone for IDC2024 by providing us with an insight into the latest treatment advances in the dementia arena.

Far from the hype and distraction of media stories, Tom will present a wide-ranging clinical update on promising approaches and proven treatments for different forms of dementia, bringing us from the present to the methods and supports of the future.

Join us as we discover how treatments will evolve over the coming decades, and what impact they could have on the global community who live with dementia.

During the Covid pandemic, Canada sadly led the world in deaths in long term care. This started a national movement to change the system. As one of Canada’s most influential voices for older people, with decades of experience in policy development, Samir has been hands-on at both the care coalface (as Director of Geriatrics of the Sinai Health System) and as a member of various senior government advisory groups.

At IDC2024, Samir will seek to untangle some of the challenges faced in both the Australian and Canadian regulatory systems and provide suggestions for a way forward.

Addressing some of the complexities driven by staff pay inequities and risk management, as well as data collection and procedural requirements that can descend into perfunctory, tick-a-box care, he’ll cast a vision for a future that treats high-quality staff as an unequivocal priority, allowing care providers to treat patients as whole human beings.

Without a doubt, no one wants to be in the position of requesting or requiring an emergency services response, either at home or in care. The sights and sounds of emergency vehicles and personnel can be overwhelming for anyone – how much more so for people living with dementia?

However, it can be a necessary call out for a range of reasons, so how emergency services respond to people with dementia is vitally important. But dementia awareness and training are not commonplace, and we know the outcomes when things go wrong. We also know that emergency services and response personnel want the best for the people they serve.

Let’s talk about being first on scene – how can we do better and how can the sector offer better support? With representatives from Vic Ambulance, Australian Police and an emergency department doctor, as well as the experience from a carer's side.

There is hardly a topic in aged care more sensitive than that of sex and intimacy. Behaviour considered quite normal in society can, in a residential aged care setting, come to be categorised as abnormal, unacceptable, or even deviant. Meanwhile, the presence of cognitive impairment brings its own complications.

The resulting ethical and legislative grey areas abound: what do families have a right to know about? How does consent operate for people living with dementia? Is there ever a need to intervene physically or chemically, and if so, when? How has reporting regulation changed the culture of support, and how can staff approach the matter without impinging on privacy and personal rights?

Sexologist and psychologist Dr Nathalie Huitema will provide an introduction to the topic, leading in to the panel session straight afterwards.

Following the challenges laid down by Dr Nathalie Huitema's plenary talk, she will join our other expert panellists and those with lived experience of dementia as they discuss the topic further.

Our panel will explore the complex terrain of intimacy, consent, and the parameters of normal sexual behaviour, within the context of the regulatory framework. They’ll cover ideas like inappropriate labelling, infringement of rights, as well as the kind of training that would benefit care staff.

For a range of reasons, people living with dementia don’t always receive the best end-of-life care and don’t always have access to palliative care. Many health professionals do not feel confident making decisions about care for someone with dementia as they approach the end of their life, and family carers often feel overwhelmed.

In some countries, a lack of integration of health and social care can exacerbate the problem, and often it is people with dementia who are most disadvantaged.

Nathan will bring his long experience in the palliative dementia space to bear on the challenges of complex care decisions, providing practical approaches and resources that can provide a way forward. He will share decision-support tools co-designed with people living with dementia, which aim to support holistic assessment and decision-making in community and aged care facilities.

As voluntary assisted dying laws are gradually introduced all over the world, the option to choose to end your own life has moved from the fringes into the mainstream. As a result, the question of how good palliative care can meet the needs of people facing a terminal diagnosis has never been more relevant.

In this panel, Dr Nathan Davies, an internationally renowned expert in palliative dementia care, will kick off the discussion about this difficult and sometimes heated topic. We’ll also hear from a family member of someone who lived with dementia.

You’ll hear about what needs to improve in palliative care to ensure that people, wherever they live, have access to a good death, and why legislative instruments should reflect the diversity of capacity to make decisions at the end of life.

The household model is now identified as one of the best practice options in residential dementia care, but the idea that smaller is better has a natural consequence – how much smaller can we, or should we, go? Can people with complex dementia live alone? Should they? How could we support them? Do small homes work for everybody? What are the implications of pushing the model to the extreme? 

Our panel will look at these issues, as well as the financial and staffing considerations implicit in a future where more personalised and tailored dementia care becomes the rule rather than the exception. For example, how sustainable it would be for organisations to care for people with dementia living in smaller units, and could the answer be…robots?

Remaining in our own home for as long as possible is – according to reports – what most of us desire. But what happens when we have complex dementia? What would the services of the future need to look like to support us?

The traditional day centre model, which draws people to one place with a set schedule of activities, is today being challenged by a vision that sees people connecting out into the community, taking part in activities in a range of settings, and even ticking adventures off their bucket list.

This discussion will focus on what elements are needed to for people to be at home and active in their communities for longer, and asks the hard question of whether our day and home care services in Australia and internationally are shaped to support this.

What does it mean truly to be present with people living with advanced dementia?

To be present with them is quite different to merely being in a room with them. It requires us to recognise them as fully human people who have needs and loves in the same way as everyone else does.

A failure to see the person in front of us in a meaningful way can lead to abusive behaviour, disrespect and poor, loveless care.

Join John as he discusses how we can maintain genuine presence, within a culture that often pushes us to be absent from one another.