The Dementia Symposium 2021

The Dementia Symposium 2021

Demanding action: What’s next? 

Revolutionizing the future of dementia care

Tuesday 26th October 2021 
Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre
21 Mounts Bay Road, Perth WA 6000

The 2021 Alzheimer's WA Dementia Symposium — is a one-day event that will challenge and enrich people working in the health care industry with practical skills to easily implement and reinvigorate their own practice.

As the healthcare industry undergoes a much-needed shakeup following the findings of the Royal Commission and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are proud to present a series of prominent speakers who are rethinking the dementia care space and demanding action on concerns like human rights, wellbeing and improved workforce capabilities.

Our dynamic range of speakers Alzheimer’s WA advocates (who are living with or supporting someone living with dementia), and a range of professionals — all focused on shaping and building the future of dementia.

Why care to attend?:

•  Develop and reinvigorate your own practice to better support those living with dementia, their support networks and your own teams
•  Grow your network of colleagues and leaders in the dementia space
•  Receive a certificate of attendance for evidence of professional development

Speakers:

Ralph Martins

Professor Ralph Martins is well known and highly respected internationally as a prominent researcher in Ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). His insight into this devastating disease has led to a number of ground breaking discoveries.

Noel Collins

Noel studied medicine at UWA and older adult psychiatry in the UK and has a MSc in Gerontology from King’s college in London. He was an executive member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK) Older Adult Mental Health faculty between 2012 – 2016 and is the acting WACHS Director of Older Adult Psychiatry. He has an interest in the sociology of ageing and dementia and is the co-author of ‘The ‘D’ word: Rethinking Dementia’.

Professor Yogi

Chair of Digital Health and Telemedicine, School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame and St John of God Public and Private Hospitals.

Topic Early detection of Alzheimer’s from the eye

Prof Yogi is a visiting Scholar at the Department of Health Care Policy, School of Medicine, Harvard University. He is also advisor to many companies in Australia, USA and Singapore. Professor Yogesan pioneered research in the development of eye test for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This pioneering research led to new knowledge about AD and retina. Prof Yogesan was awarded Achiever of the Year 2018 for his contribution to WA’s Innovation and ICT industry. He was also WA finalist for Australian of the Year in 2015. He has a patent portfolio of over 37 patent applications. One of his inventions is being used by NASA at the International Space Station to check the health of the Astronaut. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers and written 4 books in tele-ophthalmology and digital health.

Professor John Mamo, Director Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute

John Curtin Distinguished Professor of Health Sciences, Director of the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University

Topic - TBA

Director of CHIRI since September 2014, John is a physiologist known internationally for his lipoprotein and vascular kinetic studies in the context of heart disease and cerebro-vascular based disorders.

At CHIRI he leads a team of researchers whose hearts and minds are firmly set on finding better treatments for some serious neurodegenerative disorders, including dementia.

John’s laboratory was the first to demonstrate changes in the integrity of the blood-brain barrier with ageing, as well as interactive effects with dietary fat. Best of all, they’ve identified some potential restorative approaches that, if successful, could drastically improve the quality of life of people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families.

Colin Pudsey

Colin is an experienced entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of Melbourne-based virtual reality for older adult’s start-up, SilVR Adventures.

Topic - Meaningful Shared Experiences in Virtual Reality

SilVR Adventures' purpose is to improve the lives of older adults. Their mission is to tackle isolation and loneliness among older adults and help to significantly drive social engagement through meaningful, shared experiences in virtual reality. The vision is a world without barriers for our elders, where their needs are not only met but exceeded using VR.

SilVR Adventures works with aged care facilities, retirement living communities, hospitals and related services across Australia and New Zealand.

When the global pandemic struck in 2020, meaningful social interactions for the elderly became increasingly difficult. Many seniors faced an incredibly challenging period of isolation and aged care facilities moved to adapt to this new reality.

We adapted too. Introducing best-in-class VR headsets and an innovative new software platform, our product update allowed up to 40 participants to share experiences and talk to each other, no matter where they were.

Mr Warren Harding

B.Sc Hons; Grad Dip. Media; Brit Council Scholar LSE; Adjunct Professor, Curtin

Warren was the former Ministerial adviser to a state Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development and held various senior government roles including Treasury.

Warren has a very broad international experience with PwC, Deloitte and Accenture at Managing Partner level in Asia Pacific serving some of the world’s largest companies in energy, mining, telecommunications; life-sciences, health and public sector. He has been an External Adviser to McKinsey & Company. He has led major organisational transformations involving complex OPEX/CAPEX budgets; major technology change and has a track record of building culture and developing talent.

He was a co-founder of the Future of Work Institute in WA and has been a regular speaker on future work skills, and the human factors of digitisation; AI and Automation and is working closely with the World Economic Forum.

He is the Minister for Health’s Nominee on the Sustainable Health Review and has strong views around financial sustainability, addressing inequity of regional access and delivery, the opportunity for digital health and assistive technology to support care in the home, and importance of workforce training. He has real-lived experience with dementia as a carer.

Professor Bronwyn Myers, PhD is the foundational director of the Curtin enAble Institute and an honorary professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town.

Topic: Optimising well-being and quality of life among people living with dementia: the promise of the enAble Institute

Professor Myers is the Director of the Curtin enAble Institute, a new research institute that aims to promote health, well-being and independence across the lifespan.  Her research focuses on developing, testing, and implementing psychological and health system interventions that improve access to, outcomes and quality of care for people with co-occurring mental and physical disorders. She is passionate about ensuring that people have access to high quality services that match their needs and preferences – irrespective of age or ability.

Full refunds will be available in the event of cancellation due to changes in the current COVID-19 pandemic status. If current border restrictions remain, speakers may be subject to change.