COTA Australia chief executive Ian Yates on the peak body’s campaign calling on new health minister Greg Hunt to reverse a 2006 decision to exclude aged-care residents from the Better Access to Mental Health Care program, preventing them from being able to access the same Medicare-funded psychological treatment as everyone else in the community.

The Macular Disease Foundation of Australia (MDFA) has released a new report into the longterm funding requirements for aids and technologies to assist the 100,000 older Australians with vision loss or blindness. Aged Care Insite spoke with MFDA CEO Julie Heraghty about the reports findings and recommendations, including an overview of the issues, an explanation with examples of what vision loss aids and technologies are, estimates of the financial boost required, and the identification of who should be footing the bill.

Tina Cooper, executive manager residential services at Resthaven, on a study by Monash University and Resthaven linking polypharmacy amongst residents with risk of hospitalisation.

Karn Nelson, executive general manager, strategic policy and research at The Whiddon Group on the providers’ Social Isolation and Loneliness Report, which revealed half of Australians aged 65 and over have experienced feelings of loneliness.

Dr Ekta Agarwal from Bond University her research paper, “I don’t eat when I’m sick”: Older people’s food and mealtime experiences in hospital".

Clare Beard, homelessness and dementia project officer with Alzheimer’s Australia SA, on the peak body’s Homelessness and Dementia discussion paper, which aims to address sector knowledge gaps and provide information to improve services and outcomes for people who are homeless and living with dementia.

Dr Kim Chilman-Blair is the founder of Medicine X. Medicine X uses colourful and entertaining storytelling to demystifying illnesses and medical conditions that might be confusing patients after a diagnosis. I spoke with Dr Chilman-Blair to find out more and I started by asking her provide an overview of the company and its objectives.

Alzheimer's Australia Vic business development manager, learning and development, Dr Tanya Petrovich and Lifeview chief executive Madeline Gall on The Virtual Forest™, a screen-projected game that aims to bring joy to the lives of people living with dementia.

ANMF federal secretary Lee Thomas on the report of the ANMF’s National Aged Care Staffing and Skills Mix Project that sets out its recommendations for minimum staffing levels and skills mix.

BallyCara CEO Marcus Riley will be addressing members of the United Nations to advocate for a UN Convention of the Rights of Older Persons. He spoke with Aged Care Insite about this conference and what points he will be raising.