Online event to examine a range of perspectives relating to using health smart homes to facilitate ageing in place

On Tuesday, March 29, the Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG) WA will be presenting an online event titled: The potential of health smart homes to support ageing in place and caregivers experiences’ of transitioning people with dementia to residential care.

Many older people prefer to age in place to maintain social connectivity with their neighbourhood, and proximity to friends and family.

Ageing in place maximises the independence of older adults, enhancing their wellbeing and quality of life, while decreasing the financial burden of residential care costs.

To address challenges implementing ageing in place, the health-assistive smart home with the ability to monitor and detect potential changes in health has emerged.

Gordana Dermody will speak about the perspectives of older adults, family caregivers and clinicians on using health smart homes to facilitate ageing in place.

The decision to transfer an older person living with dementia to long-term care is challenging for family caregivers.

The experiences of family caregivers leading up to the transfer have been previously explored; however, no study has explicitly focused on family experiences related to making the final decision to transfer.

Joyce Muge recently completed her study on the experience of family caregivers and her   presentation will focus on the developed substantive theory “A journey of uncertainty punctuated by key moments”, as experienced by family caregivers.

• Understand the potential of health smart homes to support ageing in place.
• Explore how end-users perceptions impact on adoption of health smart homes. ~ Explore caregiver experiences of supporting older people living with dementia.
• Understand the triggers that lead to transfer to long-term care.

Speakers for the event include:

• Gordana Dermody senior lecturer, School of Nursing Midwifery and Paramedicine University of the Sunshine Coast: Gordana is the founder of Care Technology at Home (CTAH), a multidisciplinary lab, with research undertaken in the space between nursing, allied health, engineering, and computer science under the umbrella of a newly emerging field, gerontechnology, where technologies are developed and studied to support older adults as they age. CTAH values end-user input to study a variety of technologies and solutions which will enable older adults to live as independently as possible.
• Joyce Muge lecturer and PhD candidate Edith Cowan University: Joyce is a lecturer and a PhD candidate at Edith Cowan University. She has over 15 years of diverse clinical experience in acute care, community nursing, gerontology, corporate and management in nursing, clinical facilitation, nursing research and education. She has worked as a registered nurse in aged care settings for eight years and has a strong passion in caring for older people and their families.

Facilitated by:

• Professor Leon Flicker A,O University of Western Australia: Leon was appointed inaugural Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of WA in 1998. He established a productive research unit aimed at translational issues focusing on the health needs of older people culminating in 2006 the creation of the Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing. A practicing geriatrician at Royal Perth Hospital, he has served on numerous government committees addressing the health needs of older people. He is a Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine. He has published over 460 peer-reviewed articles addressing a wide variety of health issues in older people.

Details:

Date: Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Time: 12.30pm – 1.30pm AWST (3.30pm-4.30pm AEDT)

Event online via Zoom

Please note that this event is free and is open to AAG members and non-members alike.

The event will be recorded and organisers hope to make the recording available subsequently.

For more information on our speakers and a timetable of events visit the registration page.