Living with Dementia

Only in SATURDAY: Andrew Thorburn’s mission for HammondCare

Few operators want to tackle the complex end of aged care - but the HammondCare CEO has a plan to meet the growing demand for dementia and palliative care services.

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Caroline Egan

27 Feb 2025

Government Policy

51% of Dementia Support Australia aged care referrals’ involve psychotropic polypharmacy

Despite evidence that psychotropic medication is not effective and can have adverse side effects, a HammondCare study has found that more than half of its 421 referrals between 2016 and 2020 for psychosocial interventions had been prescribed psychotropic polypharmacy.

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Caroline Egan

27 Feb 2025

Living with Dementia

Govt throws $57M at helping people with dementia out of hospitals into aged care

The Federal Government has allocated $57 million over four years for the Hospital to Aged Care Dementia Support Program (HACDSP), aimed at improving outcomes for hospital patients with dementia who may have their discharge delayed.

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Caroline Egan

27 Feb 2025

Aged Care

Aged care operator Superior Care to refuse new residents with specialised dementia needs

The family-owned operator, which operates aged care homes in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, has revealed it will no longer accept residents living with dementia who have special care needs.

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Caroline Egan

23 Jan 2025

Sector Moves & People

Two key Dept architects of the aged care reforms are moving to new jobs

Michael Lye, the Deputy Secretary, Ageing and Aged Care, and Nick Morgan, Assistant Secretary, Support at Home Reform, with the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) have new jobs in the public sector that will shift them away from aged care, only months before significant reforms are scheduled to be implemented.

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Caroline Egan

11 Dec 2024

Living with Dementia

HammondCare CEO welcomes National Dementia Action Plan

HammondCare CEO, Andrew Thorburn, who stepped into the top job in June, has welcomed the release last week of Australia’s National Dementia Action Plan 2024-2034. The plan outlined eight actions to be implemented over the next decade to increase...

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Caroline Egan

11 Dec 2024

Aged Care

NSW Supreme Court jury finds police officer Kristian White guilty of manslaughter of aged care resident Clare Nowland

After an eight-day trial in the NSW Supreme Court, the jury began deliberations last Wednesday, taking four days to unanimously decide the 34-year-old Senior Constable was guilty of the manslaughter of 95-year-old Clare Nowland, after he Tasered her when she held up a knife up to him during an altercation in her Cooma aged care home, 114km south of Canberra.

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Caroline Egan

27 Nov 2024

Living with Dementia

Community Home Australia to expand Aashaya Jasri Resort in Bali, Indonesia

Innovative Canberra-based dementia care specialists Community Home Australia (CHA), along with PT CHA International Resorts, has announced the acquisition of a 4,000sqm parcel of land adjoining their Aashaya Jasri Resort in Bali.

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Caroline Egan

21 Nov 2024

Living with Dementia

Group Homes Australia can provide specialised dementia care and support to retirement village residents

Group Homes Australia, which operates 22 specialist dementia homes in Sydney, can partner with retirement village operators to provide short-term accommodation, support and education for their own residents living with dementia. Group Homes...

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Caroline Egan

19 Nov 2024

Living with Dementia

Regis Aged Care revises plans for 99-bed, $33M Belrose home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches

Australia’s only publicly listed aged care provider has lodged plans with Northern Beaches Council to alter previously approved plans for Melrose Manor aged care facility, in Belrose, 19km north east of the Sydney CBD, including refining the design...

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Caroline Egan

14 Nov 2024

Living with Dementia

HammondCare returns to profitability as revenue from residential aged care surges 35%

The Not For Profit health and aged care provider, which specialises in dementia care, achieved a net surplus of $14.6 million in 2023-24, compared with an underlying net loss of $22.4 million the previous year HammondCare’s revenue increased 23% to...

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Caroline Egan

07 Nov 2024

Living with Dementia

Dr Rodney Jilek’s Community Home Australia to open Canberra palliative care service for people living with dementia

The purpose of Kot Home will be to provide a place where people living with dementia can receive end-of-life care in a community setting, avoiding residential aged care, hospitals, and institutional settings. The home will be staffed with an...

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Caroline Egan

30 Oct 2024

Living with Dementia

How HammondCare’s Dementia Support Australia came to the aid of aged care resident on remote Mornington Island

On a remote island in the Gulf of Carpenteria, 1,000km southeast of Darwin, is Mornington Island, with a total population of 1,000. The island is the traditional home of the Lardil people, but other peoples inhabit the island too. Kuba Natha Hostel...

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Caroline Egan

24 Oct 2024