Work, holiday and family

Alzheimer's Disease International Conference 2018 - first day This conference, is the one conference I will always attend the combination  of scientists, healthcare professionals, people with dementia and their care partners all presenting together is very powerful. The Dementia Alliance International is run by people with dementia for people with dementia is equally represented at this conference, which is very humbling, inspiring and so informative and thought provoking. Today, speakers from DAI opening ceremony included John Sandbolm and today's plenary session, Christine Thelker, and later Jerry Wylie. I have included some of their thought providing slides below: In the afternoon there was also a session on exploring the impact of dementia for people from different cultures. One of which I was very interested in after my recent visit to New Zealand was an understanding of the Maori people regarding dementia and if the current health pathways supported Mao...

STTI Congress Melbourne, This week on my Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship, I am attending the STTI. I was slightly disappointed that there was nothing with regards to nurses leading care within the prison setting, which highlights why this is such an important area to develop. Therefore, my focus was understanding providing care for a culturally diverse population and apply this to the prison setting, with this reference there were some very interesting and applicable presentation!! Sessions included: - Cultural competency in nursing education - Culturally diverse care - Culturally diversity in the nursing workforce - Healthcare for migrant populations - Student nurse perceptions of vulnerable populations - Care competencies for the older patients A great conference and such interesting conversations, and thought provoking - I have a number of papers and books I am going to read to further my understand. Thank you to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for providing me ...

Sydney, Australia My fourth week of my travels, time is going so fast. This week I am in Sydney being hosted by the University of Technology Sydney and Professor Debra Jackson. I have had the opportunity to meet some great academics and discuss the development of a number of projects and exchange some important ideas. During my visit I of course visited a prison, but this time in the form of a museum! Interesting history and understanding of how culture has been addressed within the prison setting in Australia. Also, found a couple of books I wanted to buy, however only purchased one due to my continuing travels and already feel the need to buy another suitcase :O I was also fortunate to have some time to explore Sydney as this is my first ever visit, and this included the Sydney Opera House, Manly Island and of course the zoo to see some of the Australia wild life - I would really recommend the zoo! Next stop Melbourne...

Wellington and the South Island New Zealand, Whilst in Wellington, I had the opportunity to discuss older person care with the heads of Aged Care and Aged Concern, although this was not related to the prison setting and dementia in particular, it was a very interesting discussion and all learnt from each other. My second visit this week was to Rimutaka Prison, which is the largest prison in New Zealand. However, on this occasion I was there to high independence unit, which provides 24 hour healthcare to prisons by nurses and healthcare assistants. I had a fascinating visit. I also had time to be shown round their healthcare services and the perimeter of the prison - the space is unbelievable. From my visits to the two prisons in New Zealand I have developed a real sense of how the prisons in this country differ from those in England and Wales and how we can learn from each other. I am almost looking forward to coming home and discussing and developing these thoughts. I now have...