Final Program
The inaugural Future of Ageing conference program has been carefully curated to deliver the most topical discussions, debate and insights from leaders who drive cultures of innovation and excellence within their aged care organisation. It includes a mix of leadership experts, industry leaders and short-listed nominations from this year’s Future of Ageing Awards.
Panels and presentations will cover leadership and innovation across operations, IT, people and design; creating a performance culture; and reforms, with learnings that you can take back to your team and implement immediately.
The program is aimed at CEOs, Executive leaders, Board Directors, senior managers, and future leaders who will drive innovation and excellence in tomorrow’s aged care services.
Registration and networking from 9am.
10:10 am – 11:40 am:
Session 1: Leading change
Laura Applebee-Jones
Co-Founder - Fifth Frame consultancy
Employee experience models can put companies on the path to success by starting with your people, whether you are rethinking your purpose and values; designing your strategy; shaping your culture; aligning leaders and people or putting in place execution plans. Draw on her extensive experience working with the leadership teams of some of Australia’s most recognised companies on major change management projects, Laura will cover how employee experience models can be used to improve processes and lift both resident care and employee retention.
Scott Belgrove (IRT Group Head Infrastructure, Security & Operations) & Amro Elmasry (Extranet Systems Infrastructure Architect)
The ‘Falls Detector and Health Monitoring Solution’ is a collaborative effort between IRT Group & Extranet Systems.
Learn more about how this technology was developed and implemented and the way in which IRT promotes an innovative culture across its workforce.
Curtis Reddell
General Manager Residential – Brightwater Care Group
Sunshine Calls
Learn more about Brightwater’s new program, Sunshine Calls, that connects volunteers with Brightwater at Home clients to foster social connections through uplifting phone conversations. The Sunshine Calls enhance the emotional wellbeing of clients through meaningful interactions with others.
Catherine Doyle, Group Lifestyle Services Manager and Julie Roppola, the Lifestyle Co-ordinator at Allity Montclaire
Bolton Clarke
STEM Program
Bolton Clarke’s Montclaire aged care home has developed a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Program to meet the needs of residents keen to continue learning and allow residents from scientific and engineering backgrounds to share skills and knowledge. The program is based on aspects of the Victorian Year 12 school curriculum. Interactive activities to date have included learning 3D printing at the local library, making bottle cannons, building a working model of a human heart, propagating seeds, visiting the Melbourne Anaesthetic Museum and chatting to an AI robot.
11:40 am – 11:55 am: Morning tea
12 noon – 1:20 pm
Session 2: Health and Wellbeing
Brendon Gakowski & Chris Deed
Hotel Services Specialist at Uniting Sydney Central & Director, The Pure Food Co
Food pilot – Uniting Sydney Central and The Pure Food Co
Uniting Sydney Central recognised the risk of malnutrition for residents living in residential aged care and the challenge associated with delivering consistent and scalable food solutions for some of the most complex diets and nutritional needs. In partnership with The Pure Food Co, the two companies have developed a food-first approach designed to improved nutrition and prevent weight loss in aged care residents through protein-rich smoothies and texture-modified meals. Discover how the pilot was developed and implemented, and what the results have shown.
Dr Jennie Hewitt
Senior Manager Research and Positive Ageing, Whiddon
Live It Up program
Whiddon’s Live it Up Program is a fresh and holistic approach to falls prevention, integrating evidence-based interventions from three successful clinical trials. Learn more about how this program was designed and implemented, and the outcomes it has delivered to date.
Ozge Fettahlioglu
Managing Director, Cocoplum Design Studio & Boxareno Modular Constructions
Innovation in Design: embracing biophilic design for increased wellbeing
Learn how the integration of biophilic design principles can transform your environments into vibrant sanctuaries of life and vitality to enhance dignity and well-being. Ozge will share her tips on incorporating elements of nature indoors to significantly improve the mental health, cognitive function and social interaction of residents and staff.
Prof Claire Johnson
Director, Palliative Aged Care Outcomes Program, University of Wollongong
Making palliative care business as usual in residential aged care
1:20 pm – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 3:20 pm
Session 3: Business Transformation
Kimberley Dillon
Head of Disability & Learning and Development at Five Good Friends
Navigating compliance changes alongside technology changes
Navigating the ever-evolving regulatory landscape in home care demands swift integration of changes into operational processes. Implementing new procedures, training, and updating technology can be complex endeavors for providers of all sizes. Discover how Five Good Friends adapts to industry demands, aligning with reporting and seamlessly incorporating changes into daily operations through case studies on meeting incident management, fee adjustments, workforce compliance, quality standards, and reporting shifts.
Rob Covino
Industry Lead and Founder of Mirus Australia
Mirus AI – Careverse
Discover how the Careverse is advancing Australian healthcare outcomes through a clinical data standard.
Linda Feldt
CEO - ACH
Healthia – a new model of care
Healthia is the first in Australia to partner with the Green House Project (GHP) to combine ‘small-scale’ design with a person-directed model of care, creating an environment that goes beyond “homelike” to “real home”. ACH Group CEO Linda Feldt will share more about the implementation of Healthia, a $40 million project combining aged care and health services, focusing on infection prevention, dementia care, and innovative design practices.
Jennene Buckley
Founding Partner at Enkindle Consulting
Striving for Excellence: 10 Strategies for Reform Success in Home Care
Jennene Buckley led Feros Care for 20 years, growing the organisation from a 95-client aged care provider to 60,000+ clients as a People Care company. Hear how Jennene and her leadership teams remained agile during periods of intense change and transformation, and remained focused on creating a culture of innovation where people could do their best life’s work.
3:20 pm – 3:30 pm: Afternoon tea
3:35 pm – 3:55 pm
Session 4: Mergers and Acquisitions landscape in 2024 – panel
Discover the distinct strategies of leading experts in aged care mergers and acquisitions in this unmissable discussion with (l-r) Stephen Becsi OAM of Apollo Care and Bruce Bailey of Pride Aged Living. Hear their insights based on having completed or assisted on numerous acquisitions and gain valuable perspectives on navigating the complexities of sale or transfer, and the importance of community consultation.
4:00 pm – 4:40 pm
Session 5: Daring to be different – panel discussion
Hear from some of our 2024 Future of Ageing Awards finalists about how innovation and excellence are embedded in their organisations. Discover how they create an environment of continuous improvement that leads to high retention, and the lessons they have learned along the way.
This session will feature an opening presentation by Grace Brown, looking at how robots are changing the face of aged care. Grace will then join the panel for a discussion and Q&A with the audience. This is our final session for the day.
Moderated by Jennene Buckley, Founding Partner, Enkindle Consulting
Grace Brown
CEO & Co-Founder of Andromeda
Next-Gen Care: how robots are changing the face of aged care
Meet Abi – an AI-powered companion robot providing support to residents in a number of residential care homes across Australia.. Abi uses the Chat GPT-4 artificial intelligence platform, allowing it to recognise residents, answer their questions and customise conversations based on previous interactions to provide a personalised experience. Grace will discuss the evolving role of robots in aged care and ethical considerations.
Felicity Burns
General Manager, Health and Palliative Care - HammondCare
Linda Feldt
CEO - ACH
John Vohradsky
Chief Information Officer - IRT