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Vol 5 No 6 December 2016/January 2017
Australian Journal of Dementia Care
5
N E W S
National Dementia Essay Competition winners
ELERA Nursing Prize a token of heartfelt gratitude
University students from
nursing and dental science have
taken out the two top prizes in
the 2016 National Dementia
Essay Competition.
Prizes were awarded to three
second-year and three third-
year undergraduate students,
with a special ELERANursing
Prize awarded for the best
essay submitted by a nursing
student. Students were invited
to write an essay explaining
‘
How can your discipline improve
the care and well-being of people
with dementia?’
The winners share a prize
pool of more than $7000. All
entrants and the schools of the
winning students also receive a
one-year subscription to the
Australian Journal of Dementia
Care (AJDC).
Teagan Bewick, a Bachelor of
Science (Nursing) student from
Edith Cowan University, WA
won first prize of $2000 in the
second-year category for her
essay titled
Nurses can make a
difference
. Teagan also won the
$300 ELERANursing Prize (see
below). Danica Zhan, Bachelor
of Dental Science (Honours),
University of Queensland, won
first prize of $2000 in the third-
year category for her essay
titled
Don’t forget the teeth
.
Teagan’s essay discusses key
nursing interventions for
people with dementia that can
enhance quality of life,
concluding that nurses offer a
unique contribution as they
provide a majority of the
personal daily treatment
requirements and embrace a
holistic, person-centred care
model. Danica’s essay explains
the link between dementia and
factors that may compromise
oral health and increase
susceptibility to oral disease,
and the essential role of dentists
and dental auxiliaries in
maintaining oral health in
people with dementia.
The essay competition was
run by Australia’s Dementia
Training Study Centres
(DTSCs), with support from
Alzheimer’s Australia and the
AJDC,
with the aim of
encouraging more university
students to consider a career
path in dementia care.
This year’s competition
attracted entries from 19
universities from every State
and Territory, representing 17
different fields of study,
including occupational therapy,
psychology, social work,
medicine, marketing, nutrition
and dietetics, paramedicine,
pharmacy, biomedical science,
dementia care, design and
diversional therapy.
The other prize winners are:
Second year:
Ceridwen
Fitzpatrick,
Bachelor of Arts
(Psychological Anthropology),
University of WesternAustralia
(second place, $1000) for
Personhood and dementia:
psychological anthropology and
our understanding of dementia.
Kylie Chuter,
Bachelor of
Nursing, Charles Darwin
University, Tasmania (third
prize $500), for
Leading
conversations about dementia
:
c
reatively guiding the person
experiencing dementia.
Third year:
Pinmook Choradol,
Bachelor of Oral Health,
University of Queensland
(second prize $1000) for
Oral
health therapists: helping hands to
improve the care and well-being of
people with dementia.
Lucy Griffin,
Bachelor of
Speech Pathology (Honours),
University of Queensland (third
prize $500), for
More than a shell.
“Every year the essay
competition reminds me of the
great range of professions that
can, and do, contribute to
caring for people with
dementia,” said Professor
Richard Fleming, who
launched the competition in
2015 as Director of the
NSW/ACT DTSC.
“This year we had entries
from 17 different disciplines. I
am looking forward to the time
when students of all disciplines
in every university are asked to
think about what their
contribution could be. The
Essay Competition goes from
strength to strength. It has been
wonderful to see the DTSCs,
AJDC
andAlzheimer’s
Australia work together to
capture the imaginations of the
next generation of
professionals.”
Alzheimer’s Australia
National CEOMaree McCabe
said it was exciting to be
involved in this competition
and see the next generation of
professionals be inspired to be
involved in dementia care in
their related disciplines.
“Following a diagnosis of
dementia and with the right
care and support people can
live well and independently in
the community,” Ms McCabe
said. “The students of today are
the people who will be
providing that support across a
range of professions into the
future. It is an honour to have
the opportunity to
acknowledge our future care
partners and I look forward to
the advances that their
contribution will bring to the
care and treatment for people
living with dementia.”
The two first-prize winning
essays are available to read on
the
AJDC
website at
www.journalofdementiacare.
com, along with a list of all the
winners.
Read medical student Gabrielle
Cher's entry in last year's
National Dementia Essay
Competition, on p11.
The $300 ELERA Nursing Prize, won this year by Edith Cowan University
student Teagan Bewick (pictured above), is awarded in honour of the
contribution of the nursing profession to the care and support of people living
with dementia and their families and in memory of the prize donors’ parents,
who both had dementia in late life and were able to remain at home because
of the extraordinary nursing care and support they received.
“Mum loved the nurses who visited her at home several times a week,”
explained the donors, who wish to remain anonymous. “She said they were
kind – lent her books and magazines, brought her small treats like a flower or
a chocolate, painted her nails and gave her hair a really good brushing,
helped her wash her clothes, sometimes got something she needed at the
shop for her, looked at photos of us over and over. They took her to the
beach to walk on the sand and paddle in the ocean, out for fish and chips
and to the fruit shop – all things she couldn’t have done by herself.
“None of these small acts were in their job description and our mother, who
was a shy person, warmed to each one of them and remembered each of
them by name for a very long time. From our perspective they took great care
in all they did for her, knew her as a person and eased the anxiety we felt
because we were not able to visit her very often.
“Dad was not keen on having anyone, especially a health professional, in his
home. He was affectionate, curious and told great jokes. But as time passed
he struggled with losing his independence and was easily irritated and upset.
It was a struggle to get him to eat well, have showers and put clean clothes
on, and to get him to be interested in doing things he had enjoyed all his life.
But the nurses persisted and to see him enjoying a cuppa, listening to ABC
Classic radio, playing a hand of cards or explaining how to peel a prawn and
gut a fish with them was magic.
“We hope this small token of respect and gratitude for the skills and care of
nurses might inspire a young nurse to commit to a career in the care of
people living with dementia.”
From left: Danica Zhan, Kylie Chuter, Lucy Griffin, Teagan Bewick,
Ceridwen Fitzpatrick, Pinmook Choradol