Biography:

Jacqueline A Hinds is a Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach (CEIC), Leadership Consultant and, has worked within the national healthcare service for over 10 years in two of the largest merged healthcare organizations in UK and Europe. With 30 years of experience working within the human resource development arena has been paramount whilst working with management and staff during organizational changes; establishing and enabling them to be emotionally intelligent during mergers and organizational changes. From 2006–2010, she was the Leadership Development Consultant pre and post merge of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (circa 10,000 staff) and, from 2010–2015 she was Education Academy Training Manager pre and post merge of Barts Health NHS Trust (circa 15,000 staff). She is now Chair of the Society of Emotional Intelligence, UK Chapter and an independent consultant working on various coaching assignments, and with Culture Dementia UK on training projects within the healthcare and community.

Abstract:

Promoting excellence in service and care for patients with dementia has had a significant impact on the staff working within the dementia care management arena. Stress levels and burnout of caregivers without adequate support has resulted in the essential need of respite by way of development and coaching to support and promote their health and wellbeing whilst they administer and provide essential and effective care to their patients. In the current healthcare climate, the effect of severe cuts in service provisions and staff shortages, whilst maintaining optimum levels of output, has left care givers somewhat jaded over a period of time. Some have gone to the extent of seeking other opportunities due to lack of job satisfaction and challenges around demanding work commitments; consistently taking them beyond their core working hours. The use of the Emotional Intelligence Skills Assessment Profile (EISAP) model as a mode for developing dementia care management staff at all levels, although not referred to or identified as an integral part of their core clinical and non-clinical training or personal development plans, is none-the-less a skill that is interwoven throughout their practices and procedures delivering effective dementia care management. Caring for someone living with dementia is unlike any other form of caring because of the emotional challenges and levels of complexity; EISAP allows the dissemination of complex situations in a relatively accessible way. With the rapid changes with health provisions and more cases of dementia patients being identified, the need for emotionally intelligent care givers is crucial in this day and age. By enabling caregivers to understand their emotions, emotional meanings and to, reflectively regulate these emotions whilst undertaking their roles in effectively. The four quadrants on the EISAP model, enables healthcare and management professionals to tap into their emotional and social skills, enabling them to utilize these skills effectively within their respective working environments.

Biography:

Sandra Gilbert has over 25 years of experience as a Registered Nurse and is the Group Care Manager of Noosa Care Australia where she manages over 300 care staff. She is also a Dementia Coach and provides education and consultation to businesses and communities on becoming dementia friendly. She is a Dementia Blogger, Podcaster, Keynote Speaker and has led many projects designed to provide enabling environments for people living with dementia. She has won numerous awards for her work in the dementia care space. 

Abstract:

In the past, a person living with dementia was handed over to the expert staff when they entered residential aged care. The family carer was told to go home and the expert staff would now handle everything. Transition into care has effects on both the person living with dementia and their family. This presentation will share the journey of Noosa Care, when designing their Memory Support Unit and how as part of that design process, the decision was made to make the family carer the focus of the unit. The resident’s family carer is considered the expert and has since the introduction of this new model, has taught and mentored staff on how to care for their loved one living with dementia. The physical design of the unit was also an important aspect of the model. The design of the unit promotes self-esteem and autonomy for the person living with dementia. This environment allows resident to walk from one room to another, through the gardens and living areas 24 hours per day. The University of The Sunshine Coast Queensland Australia conducted research on the new model, “To understand the perspectives of older people, their families or carers and staff of the effect of a purpose-built Memory Support Unit on the transition into care”. In the findings, family, staff and most importantly the residents living with dementia, expressed an overwhelming positive impact of the built environment and the new model of care.

Biography:

George Paxinos was borne on Ithaca Greece and studied at the University of California at Berkeley, McGill and Yale. He is currently an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia. He published 51 scientific books and 1 novel. His Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates is the third most cited book in science. He served as president of the Australian Neuroscience Society and of the IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience.

Abstract:

The question in the title has social, legal and religious implications.

If the mind controls the brain, then there is FREE WILL and its corollaries, dignity and responsibility. You are king in your skull-sized kingdom. You are the architect of your destiny.

If, on the other hand, the brain controls the mind, an incendiary conclusion follows: There can be no FREE WILL, no praise, no punishment and no purgatory.

Our brain is the riverbed that holds and channels our stream of consciousness (Koch, 2012). It is molded by the family and the culture we were raised in. Dementia will pay an unwelcome visit to many of us at the end of life. It will disrupt the internal structure of our neurons or their nourishing blood vessels and we will be living evidence the mind is the product of the brain and has no influence on it.

Biography:

Fan Fan is an Assistant Professor at University of Mississippi Medical Center, USA. Her research focuses on the genetic basis of impaired myogenic response and auto-regulation of cerebral and renal blood flow and end organ damage in aging, hypertension and diabetes. She has published more than 40 papers in peer reviewed journals, and is currently serving as an Editorial Board Member and reviewer for several journals. She is a member of study sections in the Alzheimer’s Association and American Heart Association. She is funded by the National Institute of Health and American Heart Association to study roles of Adducin gamma, CYP4A1 and 20-HETE on aging and hypertension related renal and cerebral vascular and dementia.

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus is a leading risk factor for cerebrovascular disease and vascular cognitive impairment. However, the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. The present study examines whether disruption of the actin cytoskeleton promotes cerebrovascular dysfunction in diabetic T2DN rat, and if this induces neurodegeneration and Alzheimer-like cognitive deficits. We found that F-Actin area distribution was significantly reduced in the vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) freshly isolated from the middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) of T2DN rats compared with normal Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. The actin cytoskeleton was disrupted similarly in VSMCs treated with H₂O₂. Both young (4-month) and older (18-month) T2DN diabetic rats exhibit impaired pressure-induced myogenic response in isolated MCA. Forced dilatation occurred at pressures above 140 mmHg in MCAs isolated from elderly T2DN rats with mild hypertension but not controls. Cortical blood flow measured by laser Doppler flowmetry rose by 137±15% and 36±5%, respectively, in T2DN and SD rats when MAP was increased from 100 to 180 mmHg. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) auto-regulation was shifted to lower pressures in elderly hypertensive T2DN rats and they exhibited breakthrough at pressures above 140 mmHg. Levels of IL-1 β and IL-2, and the expression of amyloid β 42 (Aβâ‚„â‚‚) and p-tau (S416) was significantly higher in the brains of T2DN vs. SD rats. T2DN rats exhibited neurodegeneration in the hippocampus and cortex. Elderly T2DN rats showed learning and short and long-term memory disabilities. Latency of escape were longer in an eight-arm water maze test in T2DN rats (2-hour: T2DN 96±12 vs. SD 13±3 seconds; 24-hour: T2DN 105±15 vs. SD 8±2 seconds), and they spent less time in the target arm 48 hours after removal of target platform (T2DN 3.4±2.6 vs. SD 45.0±1.7%). These results indicate that actin cytoskeleton is disrupted in cerebral VSMCs of diabetic T2DN rats, possibly due to elevated oxidative stress, and this contributes to impair of cerebral vascular function, neurodegeneration and Alzheimer-like cognitive deficits.