Advocates share experiences at behavioural management training workshop launch

Dementia Advocates Anne Fairhall and Blanche Antonisen (pictured above) shared their experiences of behavioural emergencies in aged care at the launch of Dementia Australia’s new virtual reality training workshop, D-Esc.

More than 300 aged care workers in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne heard from the Advocates’ about their lived experiences and then tried out the training workshop (D-Esc) for themselves.

Anne was also an integral part of the design of the training.

“There are other ways to calm someone in an escalated state,” she said. 

“Aged care and medical workers deserve to learn those techniques – to feel confident and safe in their own jobs, and to feel that they have the tools at their disposal to resolve incidents. 

“We as family members also want to know that our loved ones are in the hands of people who have had this training.

“The idea that virtual reality training like D-Esc can mean that staff will have the opportunity to run a scenario of a behavioural emergency, and practice deescalating that in a safe environment where they are free to fail, is such an exciting step forward.”

D-Esc is a fully-funded workshop until 30 June 2025, available to 6,500 eligible participants and is the next step in the evolution of Dementia Australia’s virtual reality training, working to improve the lives of people living with dementia, their families and carers.

(L-R) Charlie Brown, leading technology commentator, Jane Floyd, Home and Community Care Advisor, Aged & Community Care Providers Association, Blanche Antonisen, Dementia Australia Dementia Advocate, Isabelle Meyer, Executive Director of Dementia Training Australia, Eliza Hazlett, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Dementia Diversity and Design Branch in the Department of Health and Aged Care, Dr David Sykes, Director, Centre for Dementia Learning.