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"Together We Can" NZCCSS Conference 2010

(21/04/2010)

The NZ Council of Christian Social Services’ “Together We Can… Services for Older People” Conference takes place on Thursday and Friday, 22nd – 23rd April, at the Waipuna Conference Centre, Mt Wellington, Auckland. More than 160 participants from throughout NZ will attend the conference. Delegates will be mainly from the social service organisations of the six member church agencies (Anglican Care Network, Baptist Union of NZ, Catholic social services, the Methodist Church and the Salvation Army), as well as others involved in working in aged care and services for older people, or in policy and government.

The conference theme, “Together We Can…”, reflects the vision of church-based social services to work together more closely, as they seek to support and care for vulnerable older people. Recession impacts and government funding constraints, combined with the growing number of older people (especially those aged 85 and over), means that social services for older people face greater challenges that ever.

The keynote speakers at the event are: Sandra Hills, a leading executive in the Australian aged care sector; Dr Michael McCabe, Director of the Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics; Rod Oram, business commentator and writer; Matthew Croucher, a Psychiatrist of Old Age and academic; and Keith Bracey, former TV personality and broadcaster. Speaker biographies are provided below.
 
In addition, Deputy Health & Disability Commissioner, Rae Lamb, will be joining a panel discussion on quality services, whilst Minister for Senior Citizens, Hon John Carter, has been invited to share his Government’s plan for working together with the sector to meet present and future needs.
 
For interviews and comments from speakers, please contact Janice Sanders at The Selwyn Foundation on 021 777 541/09 845 0837.
 
Ends
 
Notes to media:
 
In her opening address, Sandra Hills will be challenging the social services to be clear about who they are and what they stand for: values-based, faith-driven, spiritually integrated and community focused. As a leading executive in the Australian aged care sector, she has a wealth of experience from over 20 years in the Health and Community Services sector. She is Chief Executive Officer of Anglican aged care organisation, Benetas, and is also a Director of Anglicare Australia and a member of various other State Government advisory and reference committees.
 
Dr Michael McCabe, Director of the Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics, will be looking at “Making a difference in challenging environments”. He has considerable experience of the sector and of the spiritual, ethical and social challenges in providing services for older people. He is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Wellington and currently Parish Priest of St Patrick's Parish, Paraparaumu. Dr McCabe has worked in bioethics with a wide range of groups and was a member of the Wellington Regional Health Authority Ethics Committee 1996-2001. He was appointed the first Director of The Nathaniel Centre in September 1999.  We are fortunate that Dr McCabe was available at short notice to take over the keynote speaker role from John Lonergan, who had to cancel his trip from Ireland to New Zealand, due to the flight bans in Europe.     
                                                                                                                          
Keith Bracey is now well into his nineties and living in an Auckland aged residential facility. A former TV personality and broadcaster, he will share his reflections and experiences of aged residential care in the 21st century. One of the first presenters of daily current affairs televison, in the 1960s he fronted the Town and Around programmes. The show’s mix of light-hearted and serious topics spawned many imitators and was a forerunner of today’s shows such as Campbell Live and Close Up.
 
Rod Oram, business commentator and writer, has more than 30 years’ experience as an international business journalist. He is also an adjunct professor at the Unitec Business School and is author of “Reinventing Paradise” on the New Zealand economy. He will be taking a look forward at the economic and business context for the social services and how working together is the way of the future.
 
Matthew Croucher is a Psychiatrist of Old Age and academic working for the Canterbury District Health Board and the University of Otago, Christchurch.  He has acted as a liaison person for the NZCCSS in recent Ministry of Health attempts to improve services for people with dementia and older people with mental health problems, and was one of the informants for the NZCCSS's recent publication, "Working Together We Can Respond to Dementia". He will be drawing on that research report in his address, with a call to church-based social services to really invest in innovative and flexible dementia services.
 
Actual conference sessions are closed to the media. However, the conference committee will endeavour to assist in arranging for interviews and comments from speakers. 
 
Contact Janice Sanders at The Selwyn Foundation on 021 777 541/09 845 0837.
 
Contact for comment:
 
NZCCSS President, Shaun Robinson (Thursday only): 027 444 6382.
NZCCSS Conference Committee, Duncan Macdonald: 021 777 541.
 
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