When behaviour changes our terra firma: What has the Australian experience taught us?

Day 1  |  PLENARY  |  11.50am - 12.35pm*

This panel will discuss the support needed for people with dementia when behaviours become complex and at times intractable.

We will hear the story of Lynn Sewell, whose husband has frontotemporal dementia, and the lengths to which they have gone to remain in the community.

Our panel includes Associate Professor Steve Macfarlane, who reflects on six years of the national Dementia Support Australia program, Anglicare Southern Queensland's Kate Hawkins, and Assistant Secretary responsible for the Dementia, Diversity and Design branch at the Commonwealth Department of Health, Robert Day.

We learn how the addition of specialist dementia care units has become an important part of providing the range of supports needed to people with intractable behaviours. Our panel will consider what has been learnt from the significant national behaviour support strategies put in place by the Australian Government, as we discuss what still needs to happen to provide a world with solid ground for people with dementia and their families when behaviours change.

This panel will also see the launch of a new textbook on this subject edited by Professors Cunningham and Macfarlane, ‘Addressing behaviours and psychological symptoms of dementia: the BPSD textbook’.

*Please note that session timings may be subject to change.

Panellists