News and events
14 November 2008
The JRI Forum on Rural Aged Care
The first major forum from the John Richards Research Initiative into Aged Care in Rural Communities was held on 14 November 2008 at La Trobe University Albury-Wodonga campus.
The program for the day was outlined by Dr Guin Threlkeld of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the day’s proceedings were launched by John Richards, the founder of the initiative.
Professor Jeni Warburton, the Chair of the initiative, gave the keynote address. Her paper was entitled 'Research into Aged Care in Rural Communities: What do we know and what do we need to know' (PDF 212KB). Professor Warburton gave her vision for the development of the initiative, stating that she believed that “we need to develop a program of research that makes a difference to the lives of a diverse range of older people living in rural communities”. She then went on and discussed some of the issues facing the growing numbers of people ageing in rural areas, and how this might be translated into a program of work.
Professor Warburton’s keynote address was followed after morning tea by two papers addressing the research / practice and research / policy issues associated with rural health and aged care. Professor Annette Street from the JRI, who is Professor of Cancer and Palliative Care Studies at La Trobe University gave a presentation called 'The Art of the Soluble: Research from Practice' (PDF 532KB). Here she outlined how research can lead to practice change, using examples from her own research program into supportive and palliative care. Mr Chris Puckey from the Department of Human Services, a co-funder of the initiative, presented on 'Policy and Place: Challenges of the rural context' (PDF32KB), where he discussed the policy dimension of rural aged care.
The afternoon session comprised a series of presentations on innovation in research and the provision of services in rural aged care. Mary Taylor from the JRI gave a talk on the development of her Phd research, entitled 'Research Reasoning: Life review and advanced care planning in rural communities' (PDF 128KB). This was followed by Kaye Ervin from the Rural Health Academic Network, who talked about her research with the University of Melbourne, in her paper, 'Care Management in Aged Care: Participation and satisfaction' (PDF 1.3MB).
Sandra Davidson from Aged Psychiatry in Wangaratta, presented a paper called 'Aged Psychiatry Service: Issues and observations about ageing in NE Victoria' (PDF 96KB). The final presenter was Trevor Marshall from Alpine Health who presented on 'Aged Care in an MPS Environment' (PDF 488KB). Both papers gave a fascinating account of some of the challenges and successes associated with the provision of health and aged care services in rural Victoria.
The day provided an excellent opportunity for discussion of current and future research options, as well as service innovation, and an opportunity for local stakeholders and researchers to mix in an open forum.