Dementia Care

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6 Australian Journal of Dementia Care October/November 2016 Vol 5 No 5
N E W S / O B I T U A R Y
Obituary: passing of a pioneer – Richard B Lefroy (1918-2016)
Readers of this journal will be sad to learn of the recent passing of
Professor Richard (Dick) Lefroy at the age of 97, at Hollywood
Hospital, Perth. Dick Lefroy was highly regarded in Western
Australia and throughout Australia in the field of aged care,
particularly in regard to the medical specialty of geriatric care, and
his deep interest in dementia services.
Dick was born in WA in 1918, educated at Geelong Grammar and
the University of Oxford. He sustained an injury while in England and
was invalided from the British Army, acquiring in the process a lifelong
interest in medicine. He graduated in Medicine from the University of
Melbourne and worked as an RMO at Royal Perth Hospital, then in
general practice before returning to RPH as an Assistant Medical
Superintendent and obtaining his FRCP in 1951. In 1952 he became
Assistant Director of the Clinical Research Unit, which formed part of
the medical school at Royal Perth Hospital in 1957. As a Reader and
later Associate Professor, his calm, practical and methodical
teaching of medical students was greatly appreciated.
Dick was well aware of developments in the care of older persons
in Britain and elsewhere in Australia. In 1963 he was appointed
Director of Geriatric Services in WA with responsibility for
developing State-wide geriatric medical services. Coming under his
management were Sunset and Mt Henry, government institutions
classified as ‘Benevolent Homes’. Sunset had an historical
background as the ‘Old Men’s Home’ and needed sensitive re-
organisation to provide a better quality of living arrangements and
medical care. Mt Henry had opened in 1951 some 10 years after
closure of the ‘Old Women’s Home’ at Fremantle, formerly the
Asylum. Both locations presented Dick with a substantial challenge
in raising them to the standard of nursing home.
Through his role in establishing the Extended Care Departments
at the QEII Medical Centre and RPH, Dick developed much-
needed methods of assessment and restorative care, aiming to
reduce nursing home admission where possible. His concept of
Extended Care did not refer simply to the length of admissions but
to the extension of acute hospital services into the community, a
critically important concept. He envisaged a three-way extension
of the acute hospital, “in purpose, place and time”(Lefroy RB,
Geriatric medicine, early policy and practice in
Western Australia 5 23).
Domiciliary visiting and multidisciplinary
assessment were priorities. Proper assessment
of needs was central to his policies, and this included addressing
physical, mental and social factors. He provided vital services to
country areas, piloting and driving himself to remote locations as
needed.
Dick was a past President of the Australian Geriatric Society and
the Australian Association of Gerontology. He wrote many
chapters and academic papers on aspects of aged care,
developing a special interest in services for people with dementia.
He was a driving force behind the establishment of the first
Alzheimer’s Association (WA) in Australia in 1982, and new
directions in hostel care design and management.
Convinced that the medical and nursing models then in vogue for
dementia care were highly unsatisfactory, tending to increase
dependency and anxiety, he developed an innovative form of
hostel care aimed at reducing stress for residents and carers. This
was put into action at the Anglican Homes Lefroy Hostel at Bull
Creek, and subsequently adopted into policy at many aged care
facilities. Central to this new direction was the provision of
additional staff with special training in dementia care, and better
design principles in buildings for residents.
In his private life, after his first wife Betty (nee Lee Steere) died he
married Jennifer Page, a social worker who shared his philosophy
and was a great support to him in his later years. He had a range
of interests, including social issues, writing up his family history and
engaging in Tai Chi. His good humour was evident at the video-
recording, played during the inaugural Dick Lefroy Oration in 2015
which recognised him as the “founder of geriatric medicine in
Western Australia”.
Undoubtedly his influence was much more extensive than WA,
and his role as a teacher and exemplar greatly benefited many
patients, carers and health professionals.
Anew virtual reality smartphone app,
released byAlzheimer’sAustralia Vic, will
enable people to see the world through the
eyes of a person living with dementia.
The free app, EDIE, (Educational
Dementia Immersive Experience,
pronounced Eddie), is designed to be used
exclusively with a Google Cardboard
headset (pictured). It aims to build empathy
and understanding in the user by giving
them an insight into the sensory experience
of someone living with dementia.
“EDIE provides the user with a 360-
degree immersive experience that enables
them to see first-hand the challenges faced
by people with dementia,” saidMaree
McCabe, Acting National CEOAlzheimer’s
Australia.
EDIE is the next generation in the use of
serious games technology developed by
Alzheimer’sAustralia Vic
that started with the launch
of the world-first, Virtual
Dementia Experience™
training workshops in 2013.
The app is a precursor for
Alzheimer’sAustralia Vic’s
new ‘Enabling EDIE’
workshops which begin in 2017.
The ‘Enabling EDIE’ workshops will use
virtual reality tools to deliver a
comprehensive training program for health
and aged care sector professionals to
develop their dementia practice and
ultimately improve the quality of life of
people living with dementia in their care.
Registrations for the workshops are now
open by emailing vic.education@
“The interest in virtual reality and the
impact of the Virtual
Dementia Experience™
cemented our commitment
to adapt the learnings into a
mobile, free app. With EDIE
we can take the technology
to the carer, both personal
and professional, anywhere
in the world,” Ms McCabe said.
Google Cardboard is an easily accessible
and affordable VR format, named for its
fold-out cardboard viewer. Asmartphone is
placed into the back of it and viewing is
through the lenses in the front.
The app is available free on iTunes and
Google Play and the EDIE Google
Cardboard headsets cost $15 at
or
by calling the National Dementia Helpline
on 1800 100 500.
EDIE app shows users reality of dementia