Melanie Riley
EDGARLEY Assisted Living has been the first aged care facility in Australia to implement training in specialised dementia training recently featuring virtual reality.
Ahead of its national release, 20 of the staff at Edgarley participated in the training through Dementia Training Australia.
The group was split into half and each group completed a full day training session which included a half day of a theory component and then a virtual reality session, which saw staff wearing virtual reality goggles that allowed them to experience the perspective of somebody living with dementia.
There are more than 421,000 people living with all forms of dementia in Australia and earlier this year, Dementia Australia released data that showed that number is expected to nearly double by 2054.
Chief executive officer Edgarley Susan Wray said after discussion with continuous improvement officer Trish McKenzie, the pair decided further training in the dementia space was needed due to the high intake of residents with a diagnosis of dementia.
“We were quite excited about the idea of virtual reality and putting our staff into the shoes of the resident and the lived-in experience,” Ms Wray said.
“The staff that did the course were absolutely fascinated by the concept and felt that it really did change their viewpoint of how to deal with residents and how to manage their behaviours being able to live that sort of experience themselves.”
The experience was eye-opening to the staff, who said it was amazing being put into the shoes of somebody with dementia.
“It made me really think about how I look after the residents,” personal care worker trainee Terri said.
Ms Wray said the training was exceptionally important, especially for a home in a small rural town like Casterton.
“Being able to provide appropriately trained staff and appropriate environments for residents with dementia to live in will be vital to being able to keep residents that live in this community in this community,” she said.
“It is vital for rural areas to maintain the health systems that they’ve got.”
She said she hoped applications for government funding to be able to expand the facility to include a dementia-specific unit would be successful.
“I’m hoping we can then build something that is specific to their needs, and staff it in a manner so that it is a home environment,” she said.
“There are a small number of homes now already and there are more being built by larger organisations that are very much around that “home-like” environment for residents with dementia, and that’s the next stage for this home.”
Ms Wray said in addition to having appropriately trained staff, she stressed the importance of providing a familiar and comfortable environment for country residents living with dementia.
“To be able to provide for them a place they can come to at this stage of their life that is familiar to them and keeps their family and friends close is something that we need to continue to be able to provide for this community,” she said.
“It is very different in the metro areas and I think that is one of the things that Edgarley does well – our staff know these people.
“It is not just another resident in this home – they actually know them and they know their families.
“It’s that connection of community that this home does well.”
