SATISFYING THE SENSES : SENSORY STIMULATION

FOR OLDER ADULTS

SATURDAY OCTOBER 26th, 2024 – 08:30 – 16:30

Presented by Elizabeth Oliver 

This workshop is designed for Occupational Therapists working in community or residential care settings, and is suitable for new and experienced therapists. The content will be relevant for those who treat older adults who are approaching the middle to later stages of dementia and end of life. This workshop is also suitable for Occupational Therapy Students who are considering a career with older adults.

This workshop will use a mixture of lecture style content, interactive discussion, and practical activities.

The aims of the course are for participants to:

• Understand how sensory stimulation can be used with older adults
• Increase knowledge and confidence in how to assess and treat people in the later stages of dementia
• Recognise the important role that the occupational therapist can play in facilitating quality of life and wellbeing with this client group

Content will include:

• Revision of dementia including the different types, signs, symptoms, stages and strengths
• An overview of sensory stimulation and the benefits to the older population
• Exploration into different ways to assess sensory preferences to ensure appropriate sensory activities can be prescribed
• Hands on participation in a range of sensory stimulation intervention ideas
• An opportunity to apply lessons learned to own workplaces by considering the role of the Occupational Therapist, and barriers and enablers to implementation

Participants will receive copies of the workshop slides as well as practical resources to support practice.

About the Presenter.

Since graduating from a double degree of Occupational Therapy and Business Administration from Curtin University, Elizabeth Oliver has worked in both community and residential care settings for large not-for-profit aged care providers for the past 15 years. During her aged care career, Elizabeth has lead a range of culture change and care innovation research projects, and has gained extensive experience in implementing the Montessori Approach as a method of fostering person centred care.

Elizabeth strives to increase the recognition of the value of allied health services to this client group and to improve access to therapeutic interventions that can enhance the functional abilities, participation, quality of life and wellbeing of older adults, particularly those living with dementia. Elizabeth is also committed to inspiring people to consider working in the aged care industry, and has tutored in the Gerontology Unit at Curtin University for numerous years, as well as working in Interprofessional Coordinator and Clinical Educator Coordinator roles.

In recent years, Elizabeth has formed her own private practice, Memory Box Collective, with an aim to bring joy into the lives of older adults, through consultancy, training, research, resources and special projects. Memory Box Collective has been the community partner in a number of Curtin University’s Occupational Therapy honours projects. The most recent research project has focused on using Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology students as facilitators of “task boxes” to facilitate meaningful engagement in residential care settings.

Elizabeth is the co-convenor of the Facebook based WA Occupational Therapy Aged Care Interest Group. She has a Certificate IV in Project Management and has won numerous awards including Catholic Health Australia’s Emerging Leader, Rotary Awards for Innovation and Allied Health Team of the Year, and Better Practice Awards from the Quality and Safety Agency. She has been an annual presenter for Dementia Training Australia, and has presented workshops both nationally and internationally.