Anglicare appoints specialist to oversee $12m dementia care program
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Anglicare Southern Queensland was recently awarded $12 million in funding by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care to implement new Specialist Dementia Care Programs
It is estimated there are more than 421,000 Australians living with dementia and without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia is expected to double by 2054.
Anglicare Southern Queensland (Anglicare) currently delivers a Specialist Dementia Care Program (SDCP) at its St Martin’s Residential Aged Care Home in Taigum — a transitional program that provides a dedicated, dementia-friendly environment catering to individuals with very severe symptoms of dementia who need specialist emotional and mental health support.
Following the success of this program, Anglicare Southern Queensland was recently awarded $12 million in funding by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care to implement new Specialist Dementia Care Programs at its Abri Residential Aged Care Home on the Gold Coast and EM Tooth Residential Aged Care Home in Brisbane’s South.
Victoria Cain has been appointed as the Clinical Lead of Anglicare’s SDCP units to oversee the development of the new and existing programs, as well as provide clinical oversight to ensure best practice dementia care principles and the highest quality of care is delivered to all residents.
Ms Cain holds a Bachelor of Nursing and a postgraduate degree in Gerontology from Griffith University and brings a wealth of aged care experience, with previous roles including dementia consultant; residence manager; national consumer dignity and risk advocate; and, registered nurse.
In addition to her many achievements, she is also a Community of Practice Group member and a panel member with Dementia Australia and was on the panel of the Australian Dementia Research Forum.
Ms Cain is passionate about finding new and innovative solutions to support people living with dementia and is an advocate for the SDCP units as a unique way of delivering quality care to loved ones.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at Anglicare so far and my goal once all SDCP units are up and running, will be to coordinate our homes to support evidence-based practice,” Ms Cain said.
“Regardless of whether a person is living with dementia, quality care is a right for all residents. It’s important to see each person as an individual and tailor our approach to their unique needs.
“I like to focus on the person being at the heart of care as this is the key to ensuring quality outcomes for residents. Evidence based practice may not always work for the individual person and we need to be open to changing how we do things.”
Anglicare Southern Queensland’s Group Manager for Residential Aged Care and Retirement Living, Kate Hawkins, expressed her delight at Victoria’s appointment.
“In the last five months since Victoria commenced at Anglicare, she has made progress with overseeing the design and construction of the SDCP units in both our Abri and EM Tooth residential aged care homes,” Ms Hawkins said.
“It’s great to have her skillset, knowledge and expertise in dementia care as part of the Anglicare Southern Queensland team and I look forward to seeing her achieving great outcomes in the future.”
The Specialist Dementia Care Program unit at Anglicare’s St Martin’s Residential Aged Care home in Taigum was awarded an additional $4.4m to extend operational costs until June 2028 by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.
Abri and EM Tooth SDCPs are expected to be operational by the end of the year.
The SDCP aims to implement 35 SDCP units nationally, of which Anglicare has been awarded funding to operate three in Queensland.
To find out more about Anglicare Southern Queensland’s Specialist Dementia Care Programs, please visit the Anglicare Southern Queensland website.
Editor’s note: Find out more about Dementia Action Week, which is running from 16-24 September in 2024, by visiting the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care website.
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