The ACT has approximately 6,600 people living with dementia, the majority of whom live in the community, and many of whom experience difficulty in accessing appropriate support services. This presentation by the Ageing Research Group at UC traverses several of our collaborative projects aimed at enhancing and evaluating innovative dementia care services, before focusing on SPICE (Sustainable Personalised Interventions for Cognition, Care & Engagement) – a twelve-week multicomponent reablement program for people with dementia and their carers run at UCH. 

 

Presenters: Dr Antonia Kish, Dr Jacqui McKechnie

Co-authors: Cate Hilly, Susie Giugni, Vivian Yu, Jonathan Ramke, Rachel Davey 

While many children in Belconnen, Canberra are progressing well, an increasing number are falling behind. Data from the most recent national Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) show significant increases in the percentages of children who are developmentally vulnerable in the five domains of: physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, and communication and general knowledge. Suburbs in Belconnen and Tuggeranong are performing the least well and have continually worsened over the last 10 years. 

 

The ‘Good Start in Life for Young Children’ research project aims to create support and connection for children (birth-5 years) and their families across target suburbs in Belconnen. The project has delivered allied health outreach programs through Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Services, preschools and community groups/playgroups to improve the health and wellbeing of children who are at risk of developmental vulnerability.