New Pathways to Healthy Ageing
At a time when aged care systems [were] under the microscope, Dr Dein Vindigni’s research couldn't be more relevant. The Biomedical and Health Innovation Platform facilitated and helped establish collaborative partnerships that together helped to increase the reach, benefits, and impact of his integrated, holistic approaches to healthy ageing. Vindigni and the PHA team, developed, delivered and evaluated practical and positive health promotion programs for older people, their carers, and their families that would have otherwise remained far less visible.
Some of his success includes: Work at Assisi Centre to evolve the Pathways to Healthy Ageing (PHA) framework. The emerging PHA model integrates personalised and holistic healthcare responses for community-dwelling older people and those who live in residential care. The forums and fortnightly PHA meetings brought together researchers, academics and community partners to discuss areas of community and public health interest. This type of collaborative research has been sensitive and responsive to the needs of the community as opposed to more traditional prescriptive and top-down approaches. The meetings led to the development of two major translational research initiatives including the Dementia Awareness and Skills Training (DAST) program for family caregivers of people with dementia and the Health Promotion Podcasts mostly for community-dwelling older people.
Two PHA forums (December 2019/2020) strengthened a network of like-minded individuals and organisations-health professionals, government representatives, community groups and businesses- involved in the aged care sector. These forums responded to the recommendations arising from the Royal Commission into Aged Care: comprehensive interdisciplinary care; focus on non- pharmacological approaches; consumer-driven care/person-centred approaches.
The themes and recommendations emerging from the previous PHA forums and the expanding PHA network have spearheaded a range of interdisciplinary, inter-sectorial projects and research collaborations featured in a soon to be released PHA Webpage which includes the People, Projects and Community connections creating Pathways to Health Ageing.
These projects have been made possible thanks to funding from the Enabling Impact Platforms.
