Confirmed speakers

Matthew is at the forefront of the New Zealand dementia community. He is a Psychiatrist of Old Age and his main academic interests are workforce training, outcomes measurement, and better use of antipsychotic medicines. Matthew chairs the NZ Dementia Foundation, has been a key driver for a National Dementia Plan, advocates strongly for post-diagnostic support, and generally seizes every opportunity to speak out about dementia and better medical and caring support for those affected by it. Matthew will be discussing things we have learned – and have yet to learn – from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and other large-scale crises on people living with dementia and those who care about them.

Read more

Makarena’s recent research identifies that whānau are crucial for the care of a kaumātua with mate wareware (dementia), along with promoting healthy wairua for all. She identified that Whānau urgently need information to assist with their knowledge building and empowerment to meet the needs of a member affected by mate wareware and that this information needs to have Māori knowledge embedded in it. This has lead to the development of the MANA tool and app which Makarena will share and discuss at conference. Read more.

Dennis was diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia at the age of 59. Since that time he has been a strong advocate for dementia friendly communities, most notably the Australian Dementia Kiama pilot project which commenced in 2014 – a collaborative project between Alzheimers Australia, University of Wollongong, Kiama Municipal Council and the Kiama community. Internationally this project has been centre stage in the “dementia friendly communities” movement and is the only dementia friendly project to be recognised by the WHO. One of the main outcomes is that the community became an enabler for people with dementia to continue to be part of that community. Dennis will be sharing his experiences on the Dementia Kiama journey and will convince us of the benefits of having more dementia friendly communities in NZ. Read more.

Daniella is an international consultant and advisor specialising in human rights policy and practice in aged care. Her dissertation looked at human rights and citizenship for people living in later stage dementia in residential aged care, which informed the development and ongoing implementation of a human rights framework underpinned by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for Mercy Health Australia. Read more.

Dr Allen Power is an internist, geriatrician, and Schlegel Chair in Ageing and Dementia Innovation at the Schlegel – University of Waterloo Research Institute for Ageing in Ontario, Canada. He is also clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Rochester, NY, and an international educator on transformational models of care for older adults, particularly those living with changing cognitive abilities.

Dr Power’s book, Dementia beyond Drugs: Changing the Culture of Care was named a 2010 Book of the Year by the American Journal of Nursing. His second book, Dementia Beyond Disease: Enhancing Well-Being was released by Health Professions Press in June 2014 and the second edition of Dementia Beyond Drugs was released in 2017.

Dr Power has a 20-year history working in culture change in aged care. He led St. John’s Home in Rochester, New York to become the world’s largest Eden Alternative member home, and also helped develop St. John’s Penfield Green House homes—the only community-integrated Green House homes in the US. Dr Power is currently working with Dr Jennifer Carson on a new book about creating inclusive communities for people living with dementia.

Read more.