KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Ngaire Hobbins

Accredited Practising Dietitian and Author

Ngaire Hobbins is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and author with four decades of experience in clinical and community nutrition and nutrition communications, the past 20 years of which have been in the aged care field. She has been focussed on supporting the unique needs of older adults and is an acknowledged authority in this important area with her thinking informing work in aged care across Australia.

Ngaire is a passionate advocate for seniors and for raising awareness of their specialised health needs in nutrition and associated issues such as diabetes and weight maintenance. She has been part of a number of expert groups advising on development of health policy and/or therapeutic guidelines and is currently a member of the Expert Advisory Group on Nutrition and Food to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Kevin Holliday

Registered Nurse and Account Manager Cardinal Health Tasmania

‘Recognising clinical deterioration in the elderly and the role compensatory mechanisms play’

Kevin Holliday is the Account Manager for Cardinal Health in Tasmania. Kevin’s 32-year career of Nursing has included 18 years in the ICU at the Royal Adelaide Hospital as an ICU Nurse Educator, Clinical Lecturer for the University of Adelaide, Clinical Nurse Consultant for RAH Mediflight and for the Medical Emergency Team.

Since moving to Hobart in 2010, Kevin has been a Business Manager for a national healthcare equipment business and has also completed a Diploma of Business. He now enjoys working on his 5-acre property in Kingston on the weekends with his wife and family.

Ryan Posselt

Paramedic and nurse working in healthcare across varied settings in both NSW and Tasmania since 2006

Ryan has a Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Clinical Practice – Paramedic and Honours in Health Research, where his work contributed to setting up the Direct to Cardiac Cath Lab system for patients presenting to Ambulance with STEMI.

He continues to work with Ambulance Tasmania as a senior clinician and has recently expanded his horizons to represent his local community on the Hobart City Council.

On council, he has continued to take an active role in promoting population health, particularly through the lens of active transport infrastructure and housing.

Roslyn (Roz) Loveless

Residential Site Manager
of Wintringham Hobart

Roz is currently the Residential Site Manager of Wintringham Hobart, a forty-bed facility for those fifty and over who are experiencing/vulnerable to homelessness or are financially disadvantaged, making it the first of its kind in Tasmania to offer such specialised services. This unique model, developed in conjunction with Homes Tasmania, caters to varying levels of need as residents age in place.

She has rich international experience across a number of areas including aged care, disability and mental health where she has been a support worker, a program manager and residential manager.

Roz is passionately motivated to ensure a person-centred approach be the foundation of quality care.

Paula MacDonald

Registered Nurse and Care Manager

Paula Macdonald is a Registered Nurse and has worked in the Aged Care sector for the past 23 years in various roles. Paula holds a Graduate Diploma in Aged Care and is about to complete a Diploma of Dementia Care. Paula is extremely passionate about caring for the elderly and the disadvantaged people.

She recently changed from mainstream Aged Care to Aged Care for the Homeless and finds the role very rewarding. Paula is a great advocate for fairness and equity to all. In Paula’s session she will be discussing the facility she works at and the care that is provided to ensure our vulnerable population feel included and enabled when making decisions around their individual care needs.

Dr. Eddy Roccati

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow for Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre’s public health initiative

Dr Eddy Roccati is the lead post-doctoral research fellow for Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre’s public health initiative to reduce dementia in Tasmania: ISLAND (Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease). Eddy’s background is equal parts neuroscience and epidemiology, with a focus on early detection and risk reduction through digital and biological markers of dementia.

Together with a growing network of collaborators, ISLAND aims to bring about positive lifestyle changes that have the capacity to reduce dementia incidence in Tasmania. Five years into this ten-year study, Eddy will showcase ISLAND’s key findings to date, and summarise the Wicking Dementia Centre’s research and educational initiatives.

Belinda Free

Nurse Practitioner

Belinda has been nursing for 19 years with the Tasmanian Health Service (THS) South specialising in wound management for about 14 years. In 2018 Belinda became a Nurse Practitioner and in 2023 stepped back from Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) full time work to pursue her private wound consulting and education business “Wound Care 2U”.

Wound Care 2U has been a rewarding venture for Belinda. It includes a private room with Dr Jevtic where she can see her own patients and visit residential aged care facilities. 16 years ago, Belinda was also working part-time in a nursing home and part-time in the outpatient wound, dermatology and plastics clinics where she very quickly found that residents in aged care facilities were missing out on expert wound advise, which just didn’t seem fair.

Now some years later Belinda fills a satisfying role knowing she can assist to heal someone’s chronic wound. Belinda still loves teaching and sharing information and now undertakes this on a regular basis in nursing homes.

Anthony Speed

Executive Director, Quality Assessment and Monitoring Group, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

Anthony has almost 30 years of experience in policy design, program delivery and regulation in public sector health and social services.

Before joining Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission in 2020, Anthony led Aged Care Compliance functions for the Commonwealth Department of Health.

He has worked in health promotion roles in the community sector and served on the boards of several not-for-profit organisations.

Anthony is interested in inclusive care and consumer experience. He is a graduate of the Australian and New Zealand School of Government executive masters program. He is also the senior executive champion for the Commission’s Indigenous Staff Network and Reconciliation Action Plan.