Dementia Australia has launched an innovative mobile app to help improve the quality of care given to people living with dementia.
The ‘Ask Annie app’, which has been launched with the support of Gandel Philanthropy, aims to build the skills of home support and community care workers, thereby improving the quality of care.
The app – a virtual learning tool – reportedly offers short, self-paced learning modules to help home support and community care workers refresh their skills and learn tips and techniques to provide better care to people living with dementia.
“The app is an easy to use, convenient training tool, able to be purchased by provider organisations as a multi-licence package for their staff to access anywhere and anytime,” says Dementia Australia CEO Maree McCabe AM.
“Once the team member signs up to the app, Annie is there to provide encouragement, tips, and to offer ongoing training that is accessible whenever the care worker wants to schedule in a quick 10- or 15-minute check-in – across the country.
“There are more than 130,000 people working in-home support and community care across Australia, and they play a vital role for people living with dementia, their families and carers.
“With almost half a million Australians living with dementia – which is projected to increase to 1.1 million people by 2058 – our community needs a greater focus on quality dementia care and ensuring continued training and support is available for the workforce.”
Ask Annie was developed by Dementia Australia with Deakin University’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute (A2I2), thanks to the generous support of Gandel Philanthropy.
“The vision for Ask Annie was to create a unique and immersive learning experience that directly leads to learning outcomes that can be translated into everyday practice,” says Gandel Philanthropy CEO Vedran Drakulic OAM.
“Gandel Philanthropy is proud to partner with Dementia Australia to launch Ask Annie, and to further develop online learning experiences that lead to better care for people living with dementia.”
Ask Annie can be purchased through Dementia Australia’s Centre for Dementia Learning: dementialearning.org.au/askannie
For more information about the Dementia Australia Centre for Dementia Learning, its national services, and technology, please visit dementialearning.org.au.
