Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to draw to the attention of parliament the achievements of Hammond Care, which recently won a prestigious international award for their work in the area of dementia. Hammond Care operate an aged-care and dementia-care facility in Horsley, which is in my electorate of Throsby, and I am pleased to note this recognition of their hard work to improve the quality of life of people with dementia. The ‘Pleasure of Eating’ award given to Hammond Care as part of the International Dementia Excellence Awards was for their work to enhance the experience of meal times for dementia residents. Their approach includes involving dementia residents in the preparation of meals, setting the table and other familiar domestic rituals. Together with other simple steps like having more flexible meal times, this approach has meant that residents have shown a marked increase in appetite and engagement in life.

For anyone with a relative suffering from dementia, we know that these quality of life measures do much to alleviate the anxiety of their families. I am therefore very pleased to congratulate the staff of Hammond Care in Horsley on this award and for their important work in this area. Hammond Care’s efforts towards designing innovative environments for older people with dementia are to be commended by this parliament.