Aged Care Conference wrap up

Aged Care Conference wrap up

On 16th August, Brian and I attended the three-day New Zealand Aged Care Conference in Wellington, at the newly opened Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre.

This year’s theme was very political, as we are in an election year.

The political panel, being four representatives each from Labour, National, ACT & the Greens all came to the consensus that the Aged Care sector is in a crisis (phew!).

They were all in agreement on what must happen, but naturally offered different approaches to how to make this happen. All say it’s a priority, but I’m not holding my breath.

At the Aged Care Conference we attended various presentations on Governance, Sustainability, Immigration, Banking and Person-Centred Care.

Dr Bryan Betty spoke on the “workforce burnout” and since Covid, our GPs have exhibited higher rates of distress – one of the worst in the OECD.

We’re in a vicious cycle where more pressure on hospitals equals more pressure on primary care, which equals more pressure on hospitals.

Brad Olsen gave us his overview of the economy and Bernard Hickey gave us information overload on how climate change will affect New Zealand, all pretty scary stuff!

I think the standout presentation was given by award-winning journalist Jehan Casinader, who told us his personal story with his mental health struggles and how important it is for us all to know our own story.

He urged us to define our stories and tell our stories, not those of others.

It was a quick demonstration on how the “inner me” gets overwhelmed with the comings and goings of the world and how we can and should change the internal narrative of our story in life.

There were over 100 industry suppliers in attendance at the Aged Care Conference, all peddling their wares and it was a good opportunity to network with them and other providers during the breaks.

Of interest to us was the advancement in technology, especially the real time monitoring of residents through a new Nurse Call system and new apps that integrate with our current Patient Management Systems.

Naturally, we are always on the lookout for new innovative ideas to increase the productivity of our staff, as we strive to meet compliance while increasing the face to face, hands on time with our residents.

At last year’s Australian ITAC Conference in Sydney that I attended, I came across a Pain Management App that can scan a Residents face and determine their pain level, when they are unable to advise us.

I’m pleased to announce, that as a follow up the supplier has agreed to a two-month trial starting in October, so we look forward to sharing more information about that soon.

During our time in Wellington, we managed to sneak into Parliament and catch up with our two local MP’s, Simeon Brown & Christopher Luxon.

So that’s a wrap for another year, the Aged Care Conference will be held in Auckland next year, so it opens the opportunity for others in the Management Team to attend.

Allan