Dementia Action Week – Striving for the best life possible
As part of Dementia Action Week this week, 18-24 September 2023, Salvos Online writer SIMONE WORTHING spoke to Colleen Fitz-Gerald about her role with the Salvos and her passion for people living with dementia.
Salvos Online: What is your role in The Salvation Army’s aged care program?
Colleen Fitz-Gerald: I’m the Clinical Learning Specialist – manager of education across residential, home care and retirement villages of The Salvation Army. Initially, my job was meant to be clinical education because I’m a registered nurse, but it now encompasses other things like manual handling, codes of conduct and new staff orientation. I develop all different kinds of resources and competencies in medication, wound management, hand hygiene and PPE. I’m based in Sydney and travel around the country to residential centres and home care hubs to train staff. The people in home care are clients, and those in residential centres are residents, and I work with both cohorts.
What motivates you to work in aged care?
I’ve been working in aged care for about 25 years. I love being part of people’s final journey and making that as good as it can be. My underlying passion is for people living with dementia, and I love working with them and giving them the best life they can have. I enjoy teaching staff that the very best way you can care for any person is by being person-centred – really getting to know them. The other important concept that I teach the staff is to make that person’s own reality okay for them. For a person with dementia, it’s very real that they think it’s 40 years ago and they need to pick the kids up from school. So, I advise the staff to forget actual reality and to meet the person where they’re at. I teach carers different things to say to distract the person and get them talking about their memories.
What are the main causes of dementia?
There are so many different causes of dementia, and it’s such an umbrella term, but it’s very closely connected to lifestyle and diet – hereditary dementia is on the lower end of the causes and more rare compared to other forms of dementia. We’re seeing a lot more alcohol-related dementia and dementia caused by sporting injuries. And because our lifestyles have changed for the worse over recent decades and, in my opinion, we’re going to see a lot more of this. Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia after coronary heart disease and the leading cause of death for women.
How important is lifestyle?
I think lifestyle has the biggest impact. We can’t change our genetics, but we can change our lifestyle. At a recent conference I attended, a man with Alzheimer’s disease spoke to the audience about his lifestyle and the changes he implemented, tracking everything he was doing. It was interesting to hear his observations about his lifestyle and how changes he was making improved it.
How can people in the community become more understanding and respectful of those living with dementia?
Acceptance is absolutely key, as is knowledge. We need to be better informed about the disease and the ways we can help people living with dementia. South Australia has just opened a dementia village similar to one in Norway where the whole community is dementia friendly. Supermarkets have been set up to help someone who’s struggling with money. Tasmania is starting a similar project as well. It’s my dream to have something like that someday, where people with dementia can be happy because the disease doesn’t totally impact their lives.
‘Holistic approach to aged care’. To read an interview with Margaret Williams (Manager – Clinical Procedures and Practice Excellence for The Salvation Army Aged Care, pictured below) click here
