Journal of Aging Science

MINDFULNESS IN CARE: CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO BY EXPLORING A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF CARE

International Conference on Aging & Gerontology

August 8-9, 2016 Las Vegas, USA

Nicole Jane Brooke

Aged Care Consultancy Australia, Australia

Keynote: Aging Sci

Abstract:

The philosophy of care is as central to organisational effectiveness, as are the values, vision, and strategic plan. It creates a usable and practical foundation for all care interactions. To which one can enable effective communication, engaging synergies and evaluation of current and future needs across the organisation at every level. Mindfulness promotes the need to be present in the moment. The benefits of mindfulness include; improve quality of care and life, reduced anxiety, emotional stability, decreased incidence of depression, reduced stress, improved immune function, improved quality of sleep. Mindfulness is a state of being aware of what we are doing, how we are doing it, exploring more individual approaches for doing it, training our mind to be open to new opportunities and becoming more attuned to our own needs and the needs of our clients, team and partners. The foci of a core belief in mindfulness are the explicit need to find meaningful activities and develop relationships through autonomy, enablement, dignity, autonomy and privacy to name a few. The mind in mindfulness is about learning to mindful as opposed to mindlessness. Learning to be more effective, keeping an open mind, and actively participating in learning rather than just hearing or reading as we often become used to. Mindfulness speaks of the need to build a scaffold of knowledge and resourcing this adequately, rather than relying on a single point of contact or resource.

Biography :

Nicole Jane Brooke is the Chief Executive Officer at Aged Care Consultancy Australia and has over 20 years of experience in aged care, retirement living and disability and holds a Clinical Associate Professor title with University of Tasmania in recognition of her international and national expertise in the sector. Nicole completed her PhD in aged care in 2010 at University of Technology, Sydney and resides on the the editorial board for the Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine Journal. Nicole continues to develop innovative and leading edge support to organisations both in business optimisation and risk management, whilst specialising in board and clinical governance, case management and leadership.

Email: nicole@agedcareconsultancy.com.au